Spanish Style Garlic Shrimp

He said:

So, here is the recipe for the shrimp we had last week. This is a staple of Spanish tapas. We’ve had it at Lola (love that place), Mimi’s in the Marigny, Rambla, Madrid, and Cafe Granada. We’ve also had it in Barcelona, and the city of Granada. At it’s heart, this is just garlic, red pepper, and olive oil, but we’ve dressed ours up a bit. Cook this in a cast-iron skillet and just put the skillet down in the midle of the table, add some crusty bread for dipping (essential), open a little Rioja (even more essential), and you are ready for food, drink and conversation among friends. Great, quick food. One of our favorites.

The details:

As many medium shrimp as you can get in your skillet, about 15 or so, tail-on

1 full head plus 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1tsp red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

1/4 c white wine

5 tbs olive oil

3 sprigs parsley chopped

1 tsp paprika

salt to taste

Place oil, garlic, red pepper, and bay leaf in the skillet under medium heat until garlic begins to sizzle and turn golden (just a couple of minutes)

Add white wine, bring to a boil, and reduce for two or three minutes

Add parsley, paprika, and salt.

Add shrimp all at once and cook on medium heat, stirring, until done (3 minutes or so)

Easy, easy, easy…good, good, good