Butterflied Baked Shrimp with Herbed Breadcrumbs Recipe

Butterflied Baked Shrimp with Herbed Breadcrumbs

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Wolfgang PuckAs you’ll see in my recipe for Butterflied Baked Shrimp, all the shrimp are prepped together and go into the oven at the same time. The recipe here serves four; but all you need to double, triple, or quadruple it is a bigger baking dish or multiple dishes. You can prepare the shrimp for baking well in advance, too, and keep them covered in the refrigerator. And, as long as you preheat the oven good and hot, the shrimp still cook quickly. Serve them as an appetizer, as I do in my Wolfgang Puck Cafes. Or place them atop hot linguine or spaghetti tossed with your favorite tomato sauce or pesto for a delicious main course. Click here for Wolfgang Puck's full introduction.

Ingredients

2 C. fresh breadcrumbs
16 extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail fins left on
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil leaves
2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 Tbs. minced garlic
4 oz. unsalted butter, melted
4 C. baby arugula leaves, rinsed well and patted dry
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
Lemon wedges, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Evenly spread the breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes, watching very carefully to make sure they don’t burn. Remove them from the oven, transfer to a mixing bowl, and set aside to cool. Raise the oven temperature to 500 degrees.

With a small, sharp knife, butterfly the shrimp by slicing all along the length of its outer curve where the vein was removed, cutting about half to two-thirds of the way down through it, from just in front of the tail to the head end; be careful not to cut all the way through. Turn the shrimp over and gently make three very shallow slits across the other side, perpendicular to the length of the shrimp, to prevent it from curling during cooking. Lightly season each shrimp on both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Add the basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, and garlic to the breadcrumbs, season with some salt and pepper, and toss well.

Brush a large ovenproof skillet with some of the melted butter to coat the bottom. Dip each shrimp in the butter, opened side down, and then dredge it in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing down so the crumbs stick and coat the shrimp well. Place all the shrimp, breadcrumb side up, in the skillet in a single layer and drizzle them with some of the remaining melted butter. Bake just until the shrimp are just cooked through, turning pink and white, and the breadcrumbs are a deep brown, about 5 minutes.

While the shrimp are baking, put the arugula leaves in a mixing bowl, add the olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and toss well. Divide the arugula among four serving plates, mounding it in the center. Arrange four shrimp, breadcrumbs up, around each mound of arugula. Drizzle the shrimp with the last of the melted butter. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Yield: 4 servings

(Chef Wolfgang Puck’s TV series, “Wolfgang Puck’s Cooking Class,” airs Sundays on the Food Network. Also, his latest cookbook, “Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy,” is now available in bookstores. Write Wolfgang Puck in care of Tribune Media Services Inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207.)