The Hirshon Gamberi Oreganata – Italian-Style Baked Shrimp

Italian Baked Shrimp Image From normalcooking.com Used Under Creative Commons License

The classic Italian-American dish – updated by me to include some gourmet touches (including a Chinese technique to make the cooked shrimp crunchy) and to emphasize the shrimp themselves. The breading is light, redolent of herbs and lemon with a gentle touch of spice.

It’s simple, delicious and well-worth your time to make properly. 🙂

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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Heavily-Salted Water

⅓ cup fine dry bread crumbs
½ teaspoon Jane’s Krazy Salt or some form of herbed salt
1 large garlic clove, very finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon grated zest of lemon
1 teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon hot paprika
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound cleaned large or jumbo shrimp (20 to 24 to the pound)
Lemon wedges

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Soak the peeled shrimp in heavily-salted water for 30 minutes to make them crunchy when cooked – drain and rinse.

Place a rack on the top rung of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Combine the bread crumbs, salt, garlic, oregano, basil, lemon rind, paprika, and olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Stir well.

Add the shrimp to the bowl and toss until all the shrimp are coated with crumbs.

Arrange the shrimp in a single layer in a 10-inch baking pan or on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the remaining crumbs.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges.