Garlic Lemon Shrimp with Red Pepper Flakes

As I am writing this post, it’s exactly two weeks since Valentine’s day. I shared all my feelings about this holiday in my previous post (spoiler alert – I love it). My husband and I celebrated at home and we loved every moment (and bite) of it. I’ve cooked for date nights in many times before, but this time, I made the exact amount of food that we needed. No leftovers, no full fridge, no delicious odds and ends from various dishes. We had seared tuna, shrimp with lemon, garlic, and red pepper flakes, a small cheese and charcuterie board, and a steak appetizer. It all turned out to be just enough. And, because everything was in appetizer quantities, the grocery bill was not much bigger than usual.

In a way, it was nice to be able to indulge one night, and go back to healthy eating the next day. Most recipes call for larger number of servings so creating my own recipes is a way to ensure we won’t end up with too many leftovers. However, certain dishes leave me craving more. These shrimp are such a dish. I’m fairly certain my seafood monger over at Wegman’s knows me as the shrimp lady by now. Lemon, garlic, and red pepper flakes are all staples in my kitchen, and now, shrimp have become too. Recipe testing is one of the most tedious tasks behind blogging – every single step gets jotted down, slowing down the process significantly. This time, it was a breeze. These shrimp are so easy, simple, and quick.

The Story Behind It

Inspiration for this dinner came from my husband telling me about a Spanish restaurant he once dined at. Naturally, the menu was tapas based (small plates). I looked the restaurant up online, hunted down the menu, and decided to recreate the shrimp he had tried and loved. The only thing that the menu listed were shrimp and oil. I added garlic, knowing how well it would turn out cooking in oil in the hot oven. I also added a lot of lemon juice, which I always do when cooking seafood. We are not spicy food fans, but a little bit of pepper flakes highlighted the flavor and added a touch of color.

Technicalities

Because of the high temperature, and rather large amount of oil used, the shrimp turned out delicious. But it’s also those two things that cause it to spatter! I used a baking dish with low sides from Le Creuset. Be very careful removing it from the oven and wear oven mitts.