Food

Cast-Iron Garlic Shrimp with Chorizo and Green Olives

Name: Cast-Iron Garlic Shrimp with Chorizo and Green Olives
Total time: 145 min
Ingredients: 1 Valencia orange or tangerine; 1 pound large shrimp (about 20), shells removed but tails left on; 7 cloves garlic, minced; 6 bay leaves, preferably fresh; 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary; 0.75 teaspoon sweet paprika; 0.5 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste; 0.25 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 0.25 teaspoon smoked paprika; 0.66 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 16 large green olives, such as Cerignola or Castelvetrano (2/3 cup); 2 ounces cooked, smoked chorizo sausage, thinly sliced (1/2 cup) (or substitute 10 dried red chiles); Crusty bread

In her latest cookbook Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others, Amy Thielen celebrates inviting people into your home and feeding them well—and without pretension. This Spanish-inspired shrimp dish is perfect for winter game nights.

By

Amy Thielen

Published on November 2, 2023

Hands On Time:

15 mins

Total Time:

2 hrs 25 mins

Yield:

6 appetizer servings

Ingredients

1 Valencia orange or tangerine
1 pound large shrimp (about 20), shells removed but tails left on
7 cloves garlic, minced
6 bay leaves, preferably fresh
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil
16 large green olives, such as Cerignola or Castelvetrano (2/3 cup)
2 ounces cooked, smoked chorizo sausage, thinly sliced (1/2 cup) (or substitute 10 dried red chiles)
Crusty bread

Directions

Remove 4 wide strips of zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler; set aside. Juice the orange into a small bowl; reserve.
Combine shrimp, orange zest. garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, sweet paprika, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika in a mixing bowl. Drizzle orange juice over all. Toss to combine. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, and as long as 24.
When you're ready to cook the shrimp, preheat the oven to 350ºF. I bake the shrimp in two batches because they need to cook in a single layer, but feel free to cook them all at once in one enormous (12-inch) skillet.
Heat a cast-iron or other heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-low heat. Add 1⁄3 cup of the olive oil. When it feels warm to the touch, add half the shrimp mixture, including orange zest and bay leaves. Add half the chorizo and olives; toss to coat. Pop the skillet into the hot oven and bake for 5 minutes, then flip the shrimp. Continue to bake until the garlic sizzles and the shrimp is opaque, another 3 to 5 minutes, depending on their size. Keep a close watch on the oven to keep from overcooking them; when you think you can smell the garlic hitting the smoky olive oil, they're pretty close.
Set the skillet on a trivet and serve with plenty of bread for dipping into the rusty, garlicky oil. When the shrimp have disappeared, add the remaining 1⁄3 cup olive oil and the rest of the shrimp and aromatics to the same skillet, building on the compounded flavor, and cook the second batch.