Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments, and your votes on the first challenge for Project Food Blog! For the second challenge, I am sharing a classic Greek dish known as Shrimp Saganaki that I learned about this summer in Greece. Voting is now open on Project Food Blog! I would appreciate your support - please vote for my entry here!
For me, the best part about visiting a new country is learning about its cultural traditions and its cuisine. This summer, I experienced travel to three different countries: Ireland, France, and Greece. We have been to both Ireland and France before, but this was my first time visiting Greece. Greek cuisine is therefore most unfamiliar for me and has been fascinating to learn about. Through this recent experience eating in authentic Greek tavernas, I learned about a variety of Greek specialties I had never heard of, nor tasted before.
One such dish is Shrimp Saganaki, a very popular classic Greek specialty. I had heard about Saganaki prior to visiting Greece, however I had thought that this dish pertained only to a specialty fried cheese. What I discovered, however, is that the term "saganaki" refers to a small skillet with two handles in which dishes such as fried cheese, as well as other specialties, are cooked. Garides (Shrimp) Saganaki, for example, is a dish consisting of shrimp cooked in tomato sauce on the stove, topped with feta, and finished off by baking it in the oven. We had some wonderful versions of Shrimp Saganaki in Greece, and spoke with at least one Greek who assured us that he had married his wife because of her mastery of this dish!
My preferred method of making an ethnic dish as authentic as it can be is by replicating it from my memory of tasting it. The best Shrimp Saganaki I tasted was from Athens, and when I came back home I worked on getting the right ingredients in just the right combination to match its textures, consistency, and taste. I have successfully replicated this dish, to the delight of my family, and I am very excited to share it with my readers today.
Ingredients: (2-4 appetizer servings)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (preferably high quality Greek oil)
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 fresh medium tomatoes, peeled, pureed, and strained
2 tablespoons mastic liqueur (substitute ouzo or white wine)
1 teaspoon sugar
salt, pepper to taste
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and cleaned with tails on
1 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 oz feta
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 400°F. In a small skillet, heat the oil. Place onions and sauté for a few minutes until translucent. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 30 seconds more.
Add the tomato paste, pureed tomatoes, mastic liqueur, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Add the shrimp and cook for 1 minute on one side and 30 seconds more on the other side.
Stir in 1 tablespoon of parsley and oregano. Remove from the heat and transfer to a baking dish. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Garnish with the remaining parsley.
Serve as part of mezze platter or as a main course over rice.
