Easy Greek Shrimp Saganaki
Saganaki shrimp, another delicious Greek-inspired culinary memory, was among my favorites on vacation. Of course, I had to show you how it's made at home, from simple and accessible ingredients. In Greece, Saganaki sauce is a classic. It's used for serving most seafood (shrimp, squid, mussels etc.), chicken, and even fried eggs (I need to post this recipe).
Further down, in the steps where you put the shrimp in the saganaki sauce, you can put instead any of your favorite cooked seafood, fried chicken, or just crack some eggs. The rest of the steps are pretty much the same, so don't hesitate to try any combination with this delicious Greek sauce.
First of all, prepare and clean the shrimps. I prefer to buy them fresh, this gray type, for a more intense taste.
If you have frozen shrimps, thaw them beforehand, rinse well and pat dry with paper towel.
Then measure and gather the rest of the ingredients for the recipe. Keep them all near because the cooking process is quite fast.
Turn on the oven and set to 200 degrees C.
Heat well the olive oil in a pan. Place the shrimps here and cook until brown on both sides over high heat.
As soon as they are ready, you'll notice they change color. Move from the pan to a plate and put aside.
Keep the same pan and oil in which you cooked the shrimps and put an onion, finely chopped.
When it starts to brown, add the chopped garlic, stir and leave for one minute.
Then add one tablespoon of tomato paste, mix well and cook for another two minutes.
Add the mashed tomatoes, salt, ground black pepper and sugar (this cuts the acidity of tomatoes).
Pour the wine (or Ouzo), season with anise if you have and you want the most authentic taste.
Mix the sauce well, add more salt if needed, and let simmer slowly for ten minutes.
After this, I poured the tomato sauce into a heat-resistant glass dish. If your pan can be safely used in the oven, you can skip this step.
Place the shrimps we cooked at steps above, together with the juice they released, in the glass dish.
Sprinkle over the top with half of the feta cheese, crumbled with your fingers, and half of the chopped parsley.
Place the dish in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees C for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, remove the sheet from the oven, add the rest of the crumbled feta cheese and parsley on top and return to the oven for another ten minutes.
In the meantime, prepare some Greek rolls or bread to serve the saganaki shrimp with.
I buy these classic Greek pita breads from the frozen food section. I cut into slices, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, oregano and dried garlic, then heat them up in the oven for maximum five minutes.
Saganaki shrimp is served when removed from the oven, but we also liked it warm or even reheated.
Savour with flatbreads, bread or any other side dish you like.
Enjoy!
