Shrimps with Garlic, Lemon, and Parsley Butter Sauce

One of my favorite ways of cooking shrimps is one of the simplest there are: a bold and tasty combination of very few ingredients – butter, lemon, garlic and parsley – which always works and takes no time to prepare.
My original plan was to use medium size shrimps for the dish, however, once I was about to thaw the shrimps, I realized that the bag I had was of small shrimps instead. As I didn’t want to start flipping each tiny shrimp while cooking, I decided to thread them on wooden skewers, even though those are usually used for grilling, and not for pan-frying. This proved to be a wise decision, as not only it made it easier to cook the shrimps, it also made for easier serving. This is a trick I will no doubt use again.
One more last minute change I’ve made, was to add Old Bay seasoning, along with lemon zest, to the simple basic original sauce. The result was even tastier and more fragrant than the what I originally had in mind. Try it and enjoy.

Notes:
* Old Bay seasoning is a popular aromatic blend of spices, used mostly for seafood. It contains celery salt, paprika, black pepper, cayenne, mustard powder, allspice, and some other spices. If you can’t find it, check for copy-cat recipes on the net.

Makes: 7
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
35 raw small shrimps, tail-off, peeled, deveined, thawed
7 medium wooden skewers
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning mix (see notes)
2 tsp lemon zest
3-4 garlic cloves
½ stick (55 grams) butter, soft
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
½ cup parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1. Pat-dry the shrimps with paper towels. Thread 5 each on each skewer. Sprinkle Old Bay mix and lemon zest on both sides. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and halve the garlic, remove the green germ, and chop finely.

2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan, over medium-high heat. Mix in the salt and  garlic and sauté lightly. Add the shrimp skewers, in one layer, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Flip over, add the lemon juice and half the amount of parsley, and cook for 1-2 minutes longer. Remove the skewers to a warm plate and keep in a warm place.

3. Increase the heat to high, and cook for 1-2 minutes, to reduce the sauce a bit.

4. Pour the hot sauce over the shrimps, scatter the rest of the parsley over, and serve immediately, with warm sliced baguette on the side.

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