I tore this recipe out of my RR mag (no judgment) as soon as I saw it. I’m always looking for substantial ways to use shrimp. While I love it, a few shrimp on a plate does not a dinner make for me. This, however, was a perfectly acceptable, if not a down right yummy, dinner. Next time, I might actually cut down on the cheese mixture by half — blasphemy, I know. I think it was a bit of overkill and drowned out the crispy bread a bit. Otherwise, a good weeknight meal.
Shrimp Scampi Ciabatta Pizzas
Serves 4 / Inspired by RR
Here’s what I used:
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, trimmed
- 15-oz fresh ricotta cheese (will try using half a container next time)
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 pound large shrimp—peeled, deveined, and tails removed
- Salt and pepper
- old bay seasoning
- lemon zest
- crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 loaf ciabatta bread (I used roasted garlic), sliced in half horizontally and vertically to make 4 pieces
Here’s what I did:
- Preheat the oven to 500.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Cook the smashed garlic until golden, about 5-10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a food processor; reserve the olive oil.
- Add the parsley to the garlic in the food processor and pulse to finely chop; set aside about 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture. Add the ricotta and parmesan to the food processor, season with salt and pepper, and pulse to combine.
- In the same saute pan, heat the reserved olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, season with salt, pepper, a dusting of old bay, and a little lemon zest. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side until opaque. Stir in the reserved 1/4 cup ricotta mixture.
- Spread the cheese mixture on each piece of bread and arrange on a baking sheet. Spoon the shrimp mixture on top and sprinkle with more parmesan. Bake until the cheese is melted, 7 to 10 minutes.
