Puerto Vallarta foodie Andrea Jupina is back with more recipes from her ‘Accidentally Delicious’ kitchen. This time, she’s sharing her quick & easy recipe for Garlic Shrimp Florentine.
“Florentine” – that’s a fancy word for spinach. Skip the butter, use olive oil instead, and it’s dairy free. This is low carb… unless you want to put it on pasta.
This is quick, easy, & delicious enough for company. I made this for 1, so adjust amounts as needed for 2 or more. If you reduce the olive oil and butter, this could actually be low fat! However, if you’re more into low carb than low fat, well, then, have fun! Fat is a flavor enhancer.
INGREDIENTS
- One package frozen spinach (I used about ½ cup). Of course fresh spinach is tastier and just as easy if you buy a cellophane package of already cleaned spinach. Use 1-2 cups fresh spinach per person. Fresh spinach shrinks like crazy!
- Frozen shrimp, raw, already cleaned & deveined (I used 12 shrimp size 31/40)
- Fresh chopped garlic (I used 3 cloves for 1 person. Yes, three! Love garlic.)
- Dash dry white wine
- Salt
- Hot red pepper flakes (optional)
- Olive Oil (about 5-6 tablespoons) plus 2 tablespoons butter
- Unsalted butter to Taste (I used about 1 tablespoon) just before serving
- Pinch of nutmeg, fresh grated if possible
INSTRUCTIONS
- Remove frozen spinach from bag and let it thaw on a few paper towels. Remove excess water. Change towels. Squeeze out water with towel still around spinach. It’s ok if spinach is still slightly frozen. If using fresh spinach, make sure it’s well washed and all sand is removed. Usually spinach in a cellophane bag has been thoroughly cleaned. If I buy bunches of spinach, I fill the sink with water THREE times and swish the spinach around really well. When you drain the sink, you’ll feel the grit.
- Meanwhile, place your shrimp in water with Microdyne, 8 drops per liter, for 10 minutes. Drain well. Pat dry with a paper towel. If you buy shrimp at the fish market, you can ask them to shell the shrimp and give the guys a tip.
- Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. When hot, add spinach and semi-deep fry it on medium high heat about 3 minutes. Cover if it’s spattering – even one drop of water in hot oil will spit at you. Ouch! Also, it’s the oil and butter that make this dish delicious, so don’t be stingy with it.
- Salt the spinach. Then add the fresh, chopped garlic. Resist the temptation to use that ghastly prechopped garlic that comes in a jar with cheap oil. It’s horrible and will ruin your dish. Just bite the bullet and chop the fresh garlic – or better yet, ask somebody to do it for you! Add garlic, reduce heat to medium low. After about 3 minutes, when the garlic starts to turn golden, add a dash of dry white wine, cover, and gently simmer for about 5 minutes, until the alcohol dissipates. Absolutely make sure the garlic does not burn or even brown, or your creation will be ruined.
- Next, place the shrimp on top of the spinach, add a tiny bit of butter on each shrimp, a dash of red pepper flakes, cover, and cook on the lowest possible heat. Turn them over after about 2 minutes. Check again after 1 minute. WATCH THIS LIKE A HAWK. The moment the shrimp turn pink, they’re ready. If overcooked, shrimp get rubbery.
- Optional: some people like to enhance spinach with a tiny grate of a whole nutmeg on top, just a few grains – careful! It’s really potent.
This could be a stand-alone dish or served on top of pasta. With pasta, generously salt the pasta water and save about 1 cup at the end, in case you need a bit more liquid. If stand-alone, you might want to add more spinach because it cooks down so much. Enjoy!
Andrea Jupina lives in Puerto Vallarta full time. Over the past few years, she has taken a break from writing her “Accidentally Delicious” column, but now she is back at it and, though we are all a little bit fatter, we couldn’t be happier! Join us in welcoming Andrea back by sending your questions or comments to andreajupina(at)gmail.com.