Shrimp and Polenta

A white plate showing creamy polenta topped with shrimp, sauce and garnish.

This shrimp and polenta dish makes for a comforting family meal. Shrimp is sauteed with garlic and then cooked on a roasted tomato sauce, then served over creamy polenta.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword seafood over polenta, Shrimp and Polenta, Shrimp in Roasted Tomato Sauce

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 749kcal

Author Sonila

Equipment

1 Blender

Ingredients

Shrimp and Roasted Tomato Sauce

3 tomatoes
1 red onion
1 bell pepper or 4-5 mini peppers
1 tsp oregano
0.5 tsp Mediterranean Sea Salt
10 twigs fresh thyme
0.5 tsp pepper
red pepper flakes and peppercorn optional for spice, add those to taste optional
4 tbsps olive oil (divided) extra virgin
2 lbs shrimp, raw, peeled, deveined and tail on
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsps fresh parsley, finely chopped for garnish

Polenta

1 cup polenta
2.5 cups water
1 cup milk
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup grated gruyere cheese

Instructions

Shrimp and Roasted Tomato Sauce

Clean tomatoes, de-seed the peppers and roughly chop onion in big pieces. Add veggies to a deep baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil (1-2 tbsps), add salt, pepper and lots of herbs to your taste. In terms of herbs I prefer fresh thyme and dry oregano but you can also add basil, mint, parsley etc. Tip - for spicy sauce add both peppercorn and red pepper flakes.
Roast the veggies with herbs and olive oil at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes. Let dish cool down for a little bit and set aside. Then transfer everything on a blender and blend until sauce is creamy and smooth.
Add 1-2 tbsps of olive oil to a skillet, medium heat. Add minced garlic to skillet and cook until aromatic.
Make sure shrimp is thawed, tap with paper towel on both sides to absorb any water from surface. Add shrimp to garlic and oil and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until shrimp is pink. Then add sauce over shrimp and let the flavors combine for few minutes. Tip - add only half the sauce if you don't like a lot of sauce in your meal. Save the other half for pasta or any meal that uses tomato sauce. It stores well in a mason jar for about a week in the refrigerator.

Polenta

Add water and milk to a medium size sauce pot. Once water/milk is hot but hasn't boiled yet, add polenta and lower heat to medium. Whisk slowly, but constantly until polenta thickens.
Add grated cheese and continue mixing to incorporate, check for salt and adjust as needed. Salt levels change from cheese to cheese.
Add polenta to plate, then top with shrimp and sauce. Finally garnish with chopped fresh parsley and enjoy:))

Notes

You can make the polenta with just water, water + milk, water+milk+chicken stock etc. Keep liquid levels to this ratio: 1 cup of dry polenta to 3.5 cups of liquid. This ratio works perfectly if you're serving right away.
If you're cooking the polenta a little before serving, then use this ratio: 1 cup polenta with 4 cups liquid.
Keep in mind that if you add chicken stock, polenta will be very rich, if you add water/milk or water/half and half polenta will be more creamy in texture.

Nutrition