Easy Greek Shrimp Saganaki

Elena Butuc

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.

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Ingredients

Metric US

●

Fresh shrimps

1 kg

●

Olive oil

100 ml

●

Onions

1 piece

●

Garlic cloves

4 pieces

●

Salt

1 tsp

or to taste

●

Ground black pepper

0.25 tsp

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Tomato paste

1 tbsp

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Canned chopped tomatoes

700 ml

about two cans of chopped tomatoes or tomato puree

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Sugar

1 tsp

optional

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White dry wine

50 ml

or Greek Ouzo, if you have

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Star anise

2 pieces

optional

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Feta Cheese

250 g

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Chopped parsley

2 tbsp

or one bunch

Step by step

Step 1

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.

Step 2

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.

Step 3

Heat well the olive oil in a pan. Place the shrimps here and cook until brown on both sides over high heat.

Step 4

As soon as they are ready, you'll notice they change color. Move from the pan to a plate and put aside.

Step 5

Keep the same pan and oil in which you cooked the shrimps and put an onion, finely chopped.

Step 6

When it starts to brown, add the chopped garlic, stir and leave for one minute.

Step 7

Then add one tablespoon of tomato paste, mix well and cook for another two minutes.

Step 8

Add the mashed tomatoes, salt, ground black pepper and sugar (this cuts the acidity of tomatoes).

Step 9

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.

Step 10

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.

Step 11

Place the shrimps we cooked at steps above, together with the juice they released, in the glass dish.

Step 12

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.

Step 13

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.

Step 14

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.