Skewered Shrimp - Lemon Zucchini

Skewered shrimp is a natural with butter, garlic and lemon. This is a recipe by Food Network’s Chopped host, Ted Allen. I wanted to prepare a simple dish and found this one in Food and Wine’s best cookbooks of 2013. I followed the recipe as it was written and after trying it, found that it could work with a few alterations to the presentation. The dish is very good, but is quite rich due to the amount of butter and oil used. We had it as a main course, but it seems to me it would be best as lunch meal or as an appetizer by cutting down on the portion size. But what’s not to like? Shrimp, butter, garlic and lemon is a perfect storm of ingredients.

Ingredients

2 medium zucchinis

3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

zest of one lemon

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp black pepper

Trim the ends of the zucchini and using a mandoline, cut the zucchini lengthwise into thin strips. Arrange 6 or 7 slices of the zucchini flat on a serving plate. Combine the remaining ingredients and drizzle over the raw zucchini and set aside. Allow the oil to flavor the zucchini.

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 stick of room temperature butter

1 egg yolk

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp lemon zest

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp dry white wine

1 tbsp fine chopped parsley

1 tbsp fine chopped fresh basil

3/4 tsp Kosher salt

1 pound medium, peeled and deveined tail on shrimp, (I used shrimp that is 30 pieces per pound. Larger shrimp could also be used).

Large bamboo skewers

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, butter, egg yolk, garlic, zest, lemon juice, wine, parsley, basil and salt. Use a fork to incorporate all the butter.

Thread the shrimp on the skewers, six shrimp per skewer. Place the shrimp in a baking pan and cover with the butter mixture. I dabbed it on with my fingers. Bake until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, 12 minutes. Place one or two skewers of shrimp on the zucchini slices and serve immediately.I would make this dish again for the flavors are wonderful. I would use larger, butterflied shrimp and put the butter mixture on the shrimp and bake separately without the skewers. This would make it a little easier to eat and still retain the essence of the dish. Serve this with a crisp, dry white wine for a wonderful meal.Enjoy!