Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Baked Stuffed Shrimp.

We called them an appetizer and only made five.  Wished we had more.  They were fabulous.  Extraordinarily divine.

On a whim I bought a bag of macadamia nuts and a bag of pistachios then promptly hid them when I got home.  Seems my hiding spot has been uncovered and someone favors pistachios.  That created a change of plans for my Blueberry, Basil & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad “with Pistachios,” which became “with Macadamia Nuts.”  It was delicious.  Wouldn’t change a thing.

Now that the macadamia nuts were open I felt the need to use them…..quickly.

That’s how they found their way into our Baked Stuffed Shrimp and that’s what made these extraordinarily divine.  In the words of Paul Harvey, “and now you know the rest of the story.”

I bought five gorgeous jumbo shrimp.  Once peeled (leaving tails attached) I used a small pairing knife to cut a channel along the back of each shrimp.  This allowed me to remove the ‘vein’ and also allowed me to flatten them out a bit so they would sit as shown above.

Once the stuffing was prepared, I let it to cool slightly then used my hands to form it into balls which I placed on each shrimp, allowing the tails to drape over (as shown above).  At this point the shrimp can be chilled and reserved until ready to bake or up to 8 hours.  Right before baking, melt a tablespoon of butter and drizzle a little over each mound of stuffing.

Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Libby with Lemony Thyme

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 5 raw jumbo shrimp peeled & deveined
• 2 Tbl. butter
• 1 small shallot minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 scallion thinly sliced
• 3 Tbl. fresh parsley minced
• 1 handful fresh spinach leaves
• 10 Ritz crackers crumbled
• 3 Tbl. macadamia nuts chopped
• pinch cayenne
• black pepper to taste
• 1 Tbl. melted butter

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a small casserole dish. Reserve.
• Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails attached. Using a small pairing knife slice almost through the back of each shrimp. This allows you to flatten them to make room for the stuffing. Reserve.
• Melt 2 Tbl. butter in a medium skillet. Saute shallot until tender, then add in garlic, scallion, and parsley and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Toss in spinach leaves. Cover and remove from heat, allowing to spinach to wilt. Mix in crumbled crackers and macadamia nuts. Allow stuffing to cool before use.
• Using hands, form 1/5th mixture into a ball and press onto the back of the shrimp as shown in photo. Place into buttered casserole dish. Continue with all five shrimp. Shrimp can now be chilled until ready to bake or up to 8 hours. Just before baking melt 1 Tbl. butter and drizzle over each stuffing mound.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

Notes

This recipe could easily be doubled or quadrupled. The stuffing can be changed up by adding lovely lump crabmeat.

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