Shrimp, Garlic, and Tomato Bake

I love recipes that are easy to throw together but still taste decadent. To me, seafood, especially mussels and shrimp, always seems to have the potential to yield that result. For example, the following recipe is so easy to prepare, the first time I was ever served it, it was cooked over a campfire -- and it still tasted like a restaurant-quality appetizer. Immediately afterwards, I asked my mom for the recipe.

Raw tomato, garlic, and shrimp cook down and releases their flavours. A dollop of butter and a healthy sprinkling of salt and pepper enrich the flavour, while crusty bread served alongside completes the dish.

There really wasn't much of a recipe, just "a little this, a little that," so this is one you're going to have to eyeball. I've enhanced it a little bit to include extra broth for you to soak up with some crusty bread.




Shrimp, Garlic, and Tomato bake
Serves 1 - Main Course (2 as an appetizer)
Multiply the recipe accordingly -- it's pretty vague as is!
Raw shrimp, thawed, peeled, and deveined
Butter
Fish broth (optional)
1 medium tomato
Lots of garlic
Salt and pepper
A baguette or other crusty bread

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the baguette; set slices aside. Dice some tomato (about 1/4 of a medium tomato per 1 main course serving) set aside. Sprinkle shrimp into a buttered casserole dish -- 8x8" for 1-2 main course servings (2-4 appetizer servings) or 9x13" for more. Just eyeball it based on how many people you are serving or your own hunger level. As a guide, for a dinner portion, I had approximately 15 shrimp. Sprinkle the diced tomato over the shrimp.

2. If you'd like a lot of juices (to sop up with bread later), pour fish broth into the casserole until it comes no more than halfway up the sides of the shrimp. Add minced garlic to the shrimp mixture to taste. I like a lot of garlic, so I used 1.5 tbsp for one main course serving. Spoon butter -- 1 tbsp. per main course sized portion -- over the shrimp mixture.

3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake casserole in the preheated oven until the shrimp is completely pink (cooked). Serve with bread.