Gamberetti con Herbes: Shrimp e Polenta

[Margi Cintrano]

Buon Giorno, Ladies & Gents,

This recipe hails from close to the Italian frontier on the former Yugoslavian border ... Simple sautéed fresh shrimp with fresh herbs, paprika and served over slices of grilled Polenta. Drink a chilled Toscai White from Fruili with this dish or a Prosecco.

This is our Sunday Lunch ... June 10th ...


GAMBERETTI CON ERBES FRESCHE e POLENTA ...
SHRIMP WITH FRESH HERBS AND GRILLED POLENTA ...

Shrimp ...

5 tblsps Evoo
2 garlic cloves crushed in mortar with pestle
2 pounds of fresh large shrimp peeled, deveined, tails left intact
1/4 cup packed tightly fresh Basil finely chopped
2 tblsps fresh Marjoram finely chopped or dried 2 tsps.
2 tsps. Hungarian Paprika ( 1 Sweet and 1 Piquant )
salt and rose, green, black freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup dry white wine from Italy: Fruili or Veneto

1. Heat Evoo in a heavy large skillet over medium heat
2. add garlic and sauté until golden about 2 mins.
3. discard the garlic
4. increase heat to medium high and add the shrimp and the herbs and sauté until shrimp are just coral pink about 1 minute
5. stir in paprika and season with salt and freshly ground peppercorns
6. add the white wine and reduce heat to medium low simmer
7. cover and cook until shrimp are cooked through about 3 mins.
8. spoon shrimp over the polenta

Polenta ...

4 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups cornmeal ( preferably Italian )
4 fresh dried sage leaves chopped
Evoo

1. oil and 8 inch round cake pan with 2 Inch high sides
2. bring the water with the salt to boil in large heavy saucepan
3. gradually whisk in the corn meal and whisk mixture until mixture boils and thickens, about 2 mins.
4. Reduce heat to low and add the sage
5. cook cornmeal until thick and thoroughly cooked, stirring occasionally about 30 minutes
6. transfer the mixture to the prepared cake baking pan
7. smooth top and brush with Evoo and cover and refrigerate until set, 1 hour
8. prepare the oven to 250 degrees farenheit
9. cut the polenta in wedges and broil 2 mins. per side or sauté stovetop until deep golden and transfer to plates
10. Serve with shrimp spooned on top

Serve with crusty warm oven bread and Prosecco or Fruili or Veneto DOC White Wine ...

Enjoy,
Ciao,
Margaux Cintrano

 

[CraigC]

We call that Shrimp and Grits! Our versions are probably a bit spicier though.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Craig,

Funny thing is, most Italian Regional Cuisines are not piquant or spicy.

There are piquant dishes, most being from Basilicata which is the land in the southeast with a 13km coast next to Puglia, where we have our home, and is the Designation of Origen of the Italian Chili Pepper ... That is why many Southern Italians sprinkle red flake cayenne on their pastas and pizzas ...

Have a nice Sunday ...

Grits ? Are grits made of cornmeal ?

Ciao, Margi.

 

[CraigC]

Grits are made from hominy, which is made from corn.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Craig,

I had hominy grits once in North Carolina as we have native North Carolina dear friends. However, I had nearly forgotten, it was a couple of decades ago !

Thanks for the information ... I have to say, they have quite a different texture if memory serves me correctly and the color is quite distinct ... I remember the grits were whitish ... Italian Polenta is a pale yellow and is slightly less rough in its texture ...

Thanks again,
Margi.

 

[GLC]

This is one of those food areas where most everyone thinks they know what the terms mean, because that's what they mean in their area. But you can't be sure what is being described without inquiring into the exact method.

Grits can be ground white or yellow corn, just as is polenta.

In many places, "grits" is meant to mean "hominy grits," meaning that the corn was first treated with a lye solution. The lye makes more nutrients available and was long known to native Americans.

BUT - "Hominy grits" can also mean grits ground from "hominy corn," which includes corn with the bran and germ removed, not necessarily using lye.

So, to be perfectly clear, you would have to say "lye hominy grits" to mean the lye processed corn or "pearl hominy grits" to mean the mechanically produced product.

To further confuse, "hominy grits" is often used to describe both plain corn grits and lye hominy grits. Which one they are talking about depends on what is popular locally. Grits, no matter what kind, can be yellow or white, but tend to be white in lye hominy grits country.

There are differences in texture, but not huge differences. But lye hominy grits tend to be softer than polenta eventually gets. Grits is often cooked much more quickly than traditional polenta, so polenta is smoother, more consolidated. But impatience with the time to prepare traditionally also tends to make the two more similar. The courseness of the grind also varies, with the commercially mass produced product ground somewhere in the middle. The courser grind make the superior dish, but the traditional patience is required.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Buon Giorno GLC,

Thanks for your very informative post on Polenta and Grits ... Interesting ...
I would have never known ...

Have a nice Monday,
Ciao.
Margi.

 

[CraigC]

Wow, way to serious. I was being humerous. Make your polenta with coarse ground corn meal and you'll end up with a texture similar to grits.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Craig,

I had not caught ur humor until now ... Apologies ...
Ha Ha Ha ...

Have a nice evening, Ciao,
Margi.