Zucchini and Shrimp Appetizer

Name: Zucchini and Shrimp Appetizer with Herbs and Garlic
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Zucchini 2; Shrimp in shell 20-30; Basil 1 sprig; Parsley 1-2 sprigs; Garlic 3-4 cloves; Dry white wine 0.5 cup (100 ml); Olive oil 5 tbsp (2 for frying, 3 for the dressing); Lemon juice 1 tsp; Salt, black pepper to taste

☆ Rate it

45 mins

Zucchini and shrimp appetizer with herbs is a delicate, subtly flavored, slightly warm dish that goes beautifully with a glass of light white wine.

Cooking is very often equated with art. Famous recipes known all over the world often even bear the name of their originator. For example, a culinary masterpiece made to the recipe of Count Stroganov — beef Stroganoff. Recipes outlived their creators by centuries.

History knows people for whom preparing exquisite dishes was to some extent a profession or a passion, and also a refined instrument of seduction. One such figure is Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt, an 18th-century adventurer, writer and subtle connoisseur of the art of seduction. Casanova is believed to be the author of a number of culinary masterpieces, many of which are still known today.

We are used to boiled shrimp with beer, or to shrimp in sauce. Yet the tastiest shrimp are fried. In Italy shrimp are fried in olive oil with garlic and served with herbs, pepper and lemon juice. In Naples, when the shrimp season opens, you can try shrimp fried in their shells right on the street — an amazingly tasty fast food and shrimp appetizer.

The tastiest shrimp are considered to be the large ones, or “tiger” shrimp. They have a lot of meat and look impressive. Here shrimp are sold already boiled and frozen; you only need to thaw and peel them. The usual size of large shrimp on sale is 30-40 per kilogram. Still, to my taste, smaller shrimp, if they were caught in the sea rather than farmed, are much tastier, especially with shrimp sauce. Note that the universally loved crab salad has nothing to do with either crabs or shrimp.

Ingredients

2 servings

Zucchini 2
Shrimp in shell 20-30
Basil 1 sprig
Parsley 1-2 sprigs
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Dry white wine 0.5 cup (100 ml)
Olive oil 5 tbsp (2 for frying, 3 for the dressing)
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Salt, black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

Turn on cook modeKeeps your screen from turning off while the recipe is open

Zucchini and aromatic oil

Cut the zucchini. Wash young zucchini with a glossy skin and undeveloped seeds, halve them, then cut into pieces 2-2.5 cm thick. If the zucchini is very young, you will get almost cubes.
Heat the olive oil (2 tbsp) in a frying pan and fry 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed with the flat of a knife, over medium heat. The garlic’s job is to flavor the olive oil. It is important that the garlic does not burn, but only starts to turn golden. Frying takes 1-2 mins, after which the garlic can be thrown away.

Shrimp and zucchini

Prepare the shrimp. Put the frozen shrimp in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water. Drain the water after 5 mins.
Fry the shrimp in their shells in the flavored oil for 2 mins, stirring constantly.
Transfer the fried shrimp to a bowl and pour dry white wine over them. The shrimp need to cool down in the wine.
While the shrimp cool, fry the zucchini pieces in the same pan in the remaining olive oil over the highest heat, stirring constantly, until a golden crust forms.
It is convenient to fry the zucchini by simply turning it with a spatula. Inside, the zucchini should still be barely firm. Then transfer the zucchini to a plate and set aside.
Take the shrimp out of the wine and peel them, removing the head and body shell. Only the meaty tails should remain. If you can, leave the tip of the tail fin on the meaty tails; it is handy for picking the shrimp up from the plate.

Dressing

Prepare the spicy dressing to pour over the appetizer. Chop the parsley and basil very finely and mix with a finely minced garlic clove and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Pour 3 tbsp of olive oil into a small bowl, squeeze 1 tsp of lemon juice into it, whisk with a fork and mix with the chopped herbs.

Serving

Mix the fried zucchini and shrimp.
Pour the spicy dressing over the zucchini and shrimp appetizer.
Arrange the shrimp and zucchini appetizer on a plate.
You can garnish it with parsley and basil leaves. It is best served slightly cooled, but the zucchini and shrimp appetizer should not be cold. A glass of light white wine goes well with it.