Roasted Shrimp with Feta

The aroma in my house on Sunday afternoon was---heavenly.  I wish YOU could have been there.  We could have shared a glass of wine, sopped up some of these great juices in the pan with some rustic country bread.

STOP.  I just realized what I wrote.   "Shared" a glass of wine?   Shared? 
Hell no!  I get my own glass and you get yours.  None of this 'sharing" stuff.   Maybe I meant we could share a BOTTLE of wine.   Yeah, that was it.   A Bottle of wine, not a glass--silly me.

Back to the matter at hand:  this is a great dish.  I came across it in Ina Garten's  Barefoot Contessa-How Easy is That cookbook.
It's not a new recipe, it's been around the blogosphere  (??) before  (and perhaps even in the next day or two  my friend Brenda   will be posting her experience with making the dish), but I think it's a recipe worth repeating....again and again.  And then again and again!
I could go on about the complexities of the fennel and tomatoes,  the  creaminess and saltiness of the feta and crunch of the breadcrumbs, but I really don't know what I'm talking about there.  All I know is that this was REALLY GOOD.  And we ate it right up.

There was one thing tho, that didn't fit in with what Ina  said and my friend Brenda told me.

The juices to sop up with crusty bread.
1)I didn't have as much juice as I thought I should.  I used Panko bread crumbs, which I love, but I think 1 cup of those was a bit too much for the dish.

2) the problem could also have been that I am over 4000 feet above sea level.  I never used to think it made a difference in my baking and cooking...but it does.
So, I am thinking higher elevation?  Use less bread crumbs... they soak up too much of the good juices.

Having said that tho,  the mixture of tomatoes and feta with garlic and fennel, is a GREAT topping for  crostini.  We would spoon it atop our slices of crusty french baguette and eat it like that...it was great!!  I would serve that at a party!  And if you came to that party   I would be sure to do more than just share a glass of wine with you.

So --the only problem with this dish was the fact that I didn't have as  much juice as I thought I would have?  Next time, I'm just going to double the wine in the recipe.  Then...perfection!

It has been a long time, but I am finally  using a new cookbook--so I can continue with my cookbook countdown.  (It's my own personal countdown, so I feel no guilt when I am a lazy sloth and neglect my personal challenge for months on end)
(although I would like to coincide with Cookbook Sundays again, because it kept me on track--going thru  209,  make the 210+ cookbooks)

My Cookbook Countdown will continue with this:   Barefoot Contessa How Easy is that?  by Ina Garten.   It's  #46 in my countdown.
Her Roasted Shrimp with Feta is worth making.

Roasted Shrimp   With Feta
Serves 4



4 tbs good olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups medium diced fennel
1 tbs minced garlic (3 cloves)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbs Pernod (I didn't use)
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 lb (16-20) peeled and cleaned shrimp, tails on
5 oz good Feta cheese, coarsely crumbled
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (I had Panko, so  used it)
3 tbs minced fresh parsley
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 lemons


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.


Heat 2 tbs of the olive oil in a 10 or 12 inch heavy, oven-proof skillet over medium-low heat. Add the fennel and saute for 8-10 minutes, until the fennel is tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the wine and bring it to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the tomatoes with the liquid, tomato paste, oregano, Pernod (if you have it), salt, and pepper to the skillet. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 - 15 minutes.


Arrange the shrimp, tails up, in one layer over the tomato mixture in the skillet. Scatter the feta evenly over the shrimp. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, parsley, and lemon zest with the remaining 2 tbs olive oil and sprinkle over the shrimp.


Bake for 15 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked and the breadcrumbs are golden brown. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the shrimp and serve hot with the remaining lemon cut into wedges.