Appetizers
Tapas Bar Shrimp (Grilled Shrimp with Padrón Peppers)
What: This dish combines two classic Spanish tapas. The first is camarones al ajillo, garlic shrimp sizzled in olive oil in a cazuela (shallow earthenware dish). The second—fire-blistered padrón peppers—are devoured by the plateful with your fingers. I’ve brought them together, harnessing the flavor-boosting powers of a hot griddle.
What else: In Spain, you’d use a dried hot chili known as guindilla (sliced crosswise into paper-thin slivers). I call for more readily available hot pepper flakes here. If you can find head-on shrimp, this dish will taste all that much better. Finally, if you can’t find padrón peppers, use their Japanese cousins, shishitos. Both are available at most supermarkets.
Grilled Shrimp with Padrón Peppers Recipe
Tapas Bar Shrimp (Grilled Shrimp with Padrón Peppers)
Recipe Notes
- Yield: Serves: 4 as an appetizer, 2 to 3 as a main course
Ingredients
- 1 pound extra-large shrimp (U-15s), shelled, split, and deveined
- 6 ounces padrón or shishito peppers
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (preferably Spanish), plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for the griddle
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife
- 3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoons smoked or sweet paprika
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- Coarse salt (sea or kosher) and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons brandy or sherry (optional)
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Recipe Steps
1: Place the shrimp and peppers in a mixing bowl with the olive oil, garlic, 2 tablespoons parsley, smoked paprika, hot red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to mix. Let marinate while you heat the griddle plancha.
2: Heat your griddle or plancha to high. Drizzle it with olive oil (start with 2 tablespoons) and spread the oil around with a spatula.
3: When ready to cook, spoon the shrimp and peppers onto the plancha. Cook until the bottoms of the shrimp are browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the shrimp and peppers with the spatula and continue cooking until the other side is browned, 1 to 2 minutes.
4: If using the brandy or sherry, pour it over the shrimp and cook until evaporated. For high drama, if using brandy, touch a lit long fireplace match or butane match to it to flambé it.
5: Transfer the shrimp to a platter or plates and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon parsley. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing.
Recipe Tips
What else: This preparation lends itself to all manner of seafood, from scallops to squid to tiny cuttlefish known a chipirones. For an American Southwestern twist, substitute slivered poblano chiles for the padróns and chili powder for the smoked paprika.
