Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta

Baked Shrimp with tomatoes and feta is such an easy dish to make and pretty healthy too. My daughter, Lexi, is always asking me to make this for her, not that she can’t make it herself-because it is that easy, but she is a teenager and prefers others to do things for her 🙂 . She LOVES this dish…what’s not to like? Succulent shrimp, sweet tomatoes and salty feta create a wonderful bite. You can eat this as an appetizer with some lettuce, celery or pita chips, or as a meal with some nice homemade crusty bread (or store bought 🙂 ). Make sure you slop up the wonderful juices it creates with the bread, um, um! Add a glass of white wine, for the adults, and you have a wonderful marriage 🙂 .

This dish is amazing with ripe fresh tomatoes, but if you do not have them then about two 14.5 oz cans of petite diced tomatoes will do, or try one can and one pound of fresh tomatoes to get a little of both tastes. You can also add other herbs, to garnish, such as basil and/or spearmint (a traditional herb to use in Greek savory dishes), but I like this dish best with just parsley and dill. It’s best to have all your ingredients mise en place, which means “set in place” and ready to go! Thought I’d throw in some French terminology in this Greek dish 🙂 .

You will need:

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup shallots or red onions, thinly sliced or finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
• 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, skin removed (see *note after Steps) and diced (or one 28 ounce can petite diced tomatoes, or a mixture of both)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped and divided
• 2 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped and divided
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds of large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into pieces (for a dip), or leave whole (for a meal)
• 4 ounces Greek feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
• 1/2 tablespoon each of basil and spearmint, for additional garnish (optional)

Steps:

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in oven proof skillet over medium heat.
2. Add shallots/onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add diced tomatoes to pan and combine well. Let cook until the tomatoes have softened and released their juices.
4. Add 1/2 of the parsley, dill, and oregano, stir and continue to cook a few more minutes until juices have reduced to almost half (about 10 minutes). Turn off heat.
5. Take shrimp and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper and stir.
6. Add the shrimp to the tomato mixture and stir to combine evenly, then lay several whole pieces of shrimp on top.
7. Add crumbled feta over the whole dish and sprinkle with the rest of the oregano.
8. Place in oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, until bubbly and cheese has slightly melted. Don’t let it go too much, you don’t want to dry up the dish. You want some juices in there to slop up with some crusty bread 🙂 .
9. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes, the pan is HOT, so be careful. Sprinkle the top with rest of parsley and dill, and basil and mint (if using)

Kali Orexi!

*Note: to remove skin from fresh tomatoes make an X with a knife on the bottom of the tomatoes and carefully plunge into boiling water for about 25-30 seconds. Remove and let cool to touch. Pick up tomato and simply peel the skin off with your fingers, it comes off easy.