Lemon Garlic Shrimp Over Polenta
I've gotten in the mood to try out some new seafood recipes. Although I've never been too adventurous with cooking fish, I finally decided to retrieve my notes that I had jotted down from my mom over the years- temperatures, seasonings, pairings, etc. and go for it!
I once had shrimp served over polenta and I always remember this as a really amazing combination of flavors. I wanted to recreate this so I started to do some research on polenta and what I learned is that it's a very versatile dish. Polenta can be served as a creamy mashed form or as a polenta cake, which is fried or baked after cooking on the stovetop. Polenta is cornmeal that is cooked on the stovetop with water, butter, milk, cheese and variations in between. Plus, I had found some cornmeal at the farmer's market this week from Farmer Ground Flour in the Finger Lakes Region. The cornmeal is from freshly ground NYS grains and it's completely organic. It definitely made the polenta and I can't wait to use it in other recipes as well.
Ingredients:
For the polenta:
2 cups of cornmeal
4 cups of water
1/2 cup of pecorino romano
1 Tbsp of fresh cilantro
For the shrimp:
About 12 medium-sized shrimp for 2-3 servings
1 Tbsp fresh garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cilantro
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
On the stovetop, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add 2 cups of cornmeal to the boiling water and then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Stir the mixture every 5-10 minutes for about 30 minutes or until the cornmeal becomes smooth. Add the cheese and and cilantro towards the end of stirring and gently combine. You can serve polenta directly from the pot OR you can place it in a square pan (I used an 8"x8" baking pan, greased with olive oil) and baked it on 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Polenta solidifies pretty quickly so if you want to serve it as a soft form, you'll have to do it with an hour or so. If you don't mind a solid form or a polenta cake, you can bake it as mentioned above or even place solid pieces in a frying pan with a drop of olive oil, until the cake gently browns on the sides.
For the shrimp, add the peeled and cleaned shrimp to a frying pan with the olive oil, lemon juice, seasonings, and gently combine, turning over the shrimp and allowing the shrimp to cook through, which means the fish will become white and opaque on both sides. In total, cooking the shrimp should take about 15 minutes on medium heat on the stovetop.
Place the cooked shrimp on top of the polenta and feel free to add some additional cilantro as a garnish. The meal is sure to surprise your family, friends and guests and you'll enjoy it too!
