Shrimp baked in a sauce of chopped tomatillos, cotija cheese, jalapeños, onions and garlic, tossed with cilantro and lime juice.
Some things taste so much better than they look.
This is an odd looking dish with the orange-pink shrimp and the light yellow-green tomatillos sprinkled here and there with white cotija cheese and green coriander. And you might be thinking, what is that combination?
This odd assortment of ingredients is just a riff off the southwest of a shrimp saganaki, usually made with feta and tomato sauce. One of the best-received recipes on this site is Baked Shrimp in Tomato Feta Sauce. It just works.
The onions and shrimp provide sweetness, the tomatillos or tomatoes add acidity, the cotija queso seco or feta add saltiness, and the coriander or parsley add bitterness.
Wrap some in a flour tortilla and you practically have a shrimp quesadilla with salsa verde.
From the Recipe Archive, first published September 2010.
Baked shrimp with tomatillos
Shrimp can be cooked with or without the shell. Cooking with the shell results in better flavor but can be picky about food as you have to peel off the shells as you eat.
Peeling and deveining the shrimp before cooking can add a good 10 minutes to prep time, but the resulting dish is easier to eat.
This is a one-pan, stovetop-to-oven dish, so use an ovenproof skillet.
*One time we used tequila instead of clam juice, it was good too!
Special Equipment Needed: An ovenproof sauté pan or cast iron skillet
ingredients
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2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
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1 medium Onionchopped, approx 1 Cup
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1 to 2 jalapeno chilliescored, chopped
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3 cloves garlicthinly sliced
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1 lb tomatillolesschopped
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Salt
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1/2 Cup clam juice or 1/4 cup water*
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1 lb shrimpcleaned, gutted
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1 Cup cotija queso Seco cheese (can substitute feta)
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1/4 Cup chopped coriander
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lime juice
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Black pepper
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flour tortillasserve
method
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Sauté onions and jalapeños:
Heat oil in the pan you will be using for baking. Add onions and jalapeños, cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until onions begin to brown. Add the garlic and cook a minute more.
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Add tomatillos:
Add the tomatillos, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, until the tomatillos are tender but still holding their shape. Sprinkle salt over the tomatillos while they cook.
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Add Clam Juice:
If using clam juice, add to pan, increase heat and reduce by half. If using water, just add the 1/4 cup of water without reducing.
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Add cheese and shrimp, bake in the oven:
Add the cheese and shrimp. Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 10 minutes.
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Serve with coriander, lime juice, black pepper:
Take the pan out of the oven. If you are using a pan with a handle, such as For example, a cast iron skillet, I recommend chilling the handle with ice for safety. It’s so easy to forget the pan just came out of the oven and you accidentally grab the hot handle.
Just before serving, stir in the cilantro and sprinkle with lime juice and freshly ground black pepper.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 859 | calories |
| 29g | Fat |
| 101g | carbohydrates |
| 47g | protein |
