Shrimp with tomatoes and feta cheese

This is a well-known dish in Greece, called ‘garides saganaki’. We had it yesterday.  If you are like me, there is no way you can have too much of this! My kids love it, too, but  I take it easy with the tobasco and pepper when I cook for them. I use frozen shrimp.  Indeed, I always keep a bag of frozen, uncooked, shrimp so any day is a good day for “garides saganaki”. Enjoy!

Recipe
Ingredients

• olive oil or butter (about 2 tablespoons depending on how much shrimp you have)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound or more shrimp
• 1 green pepper (ok if you don’t have one)
• 1 can tomato sauce (not crushed tomatoes or whole tomatoes)
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• salt, pepper, oregano, 2 drops tobasco,  1/2 teaspoon red crushed pepper
• 1 cup or more crumbled feta cheese
  

How to make: Heat some olive oil or butter in a big, deep pan. Enough oil or butter to cover the bottom of the pan. Saute the onion, about five minutes. Add the shrimp after you have peeled it and deveined it. Saute the shrimp until it acquires a nice pink color on both sides.  Add the tomato sauce,  tomato paste, sliced green peppers (without the white seeds), salt, pepper, 2 (and no more) drops of tobasco, red crushed pepper. Don’t overdo it with all the hot spices unless you like the dish to be really hot. Fill half way the empty tomato can with water and add it to the pan.  Stir well, bring to boil, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Check in between to make sure there’s enough liquid. If not, add some water.  When you are ready to serve,  add  at least a cup or cup and a half crumbled feta cheese. If you are not ready to serve, keep the shrimp in the fridge without the feta. Add the feta after you reheat it.  You can all add fresh  parsley.

Notes and tips: Small shrimp can be a pain to peel so I prefer medium size. Colossal shrimp is not working for me.  This dish is a great first course for a formal dinner. For a family dinner, I serve it as main course with rice or pasta.  Bread is great too for tasting or scooping the sauce 🙂