Roasted Shrimp in Spicy Green Sauce

An herby, slightly spicy sauce, fresh as spring, marinates plump shrimp as they cook, hands off, in the oven. Then, serve roasted shrimp in spicy green sauce over sauteed zoodles, and a beautiful, healthy dinner is in the bag.

Spring is the time for green — green food, lighter food, hopelessly delicious noshes that don’t require forever being in the kitchen to get there.

Shrimp in spicy green sauce is one of those dishes. Lemony, with loads of scallions and parsley, and just enough chili pepper to make your taste buds go pop!

And who can resist the “it” girl of the veggie world, zoodles, all green and carby-looking, without actually being carby (although definitely green). Although, if it’s a day when you can resist the call of the zoodles — one of those days when even hand-powered veggie grating machinery is just.too.much machinery — roasted shrimp in spicy green sauce totally goes with truly carby carbs, like pasta, or rice, or even quinoa.

Cook’s notes for Roasted Shrimp in Spicy Green Sauce

• The spicy green sauce is totally makeaheadable. In fact, like most sauces, it’s even better when the blended flavors are allowed to meld for a few hours, or overnight.
• With a makeahead sauce, dinner hits the table super fast, especially if you happen to have leftover rice to serve with the shrimp.
• Angel hair pasta would be awesome, too, but you can’t beat the health kick of zoodles … and they’re so pretty on the platter! My spiral slicer has a blade that creates the fun curly ribbons in the photos here. But no worries if you don’t have a spiral slicer. I also love my serrated vegetable peeler, which has multiple uses, including the superior ability to remove citrus zest in a super thin layer (hello, candied lemon peels and homemade marmalade!). The fine strips of zucchini created by the peeler can be heaped into cute little nests to hold the shrimp.
• Zucchini exudes a lot of water, and often you have to drain the zoodles before using. But since you’re sauteing them, no need! Excess liquid will sizzle away in the pan. Woot!
• If you purchase shrimp with their shells on, you can save and freeze the shells to create a yummy shrimp broth some time in the future. Nose-to-tail cooking applies to seafood, too! Shrimp stock makes beautiful soups like Shrimp Bisque. If you need a refresher for prepping shrimp, here’s a tutorial.

Make the transition from heavy winter foods with this delightfully ‘licious spring green sauce — its fresh herby self is a taste of all the local/homegrown summer goodness to come. Enjoy!

Karen xo

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Roasted Shrimp in Spicy Green Sauce

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 generous servings

Author: Karen Gibson

Ingredients

for the shrimp

• 6 cloves garlic peeled
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 scallions trimmed and chopped
• 1/2 heaping cup flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems
• 1/2 serrano or jalapeno chili pepper seeds and ribs removed
• 1 lemon zested and juiced
• 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup white wine or shrimp or chicken stock
• a few pinches of crushed red chili flakes optional
• salt and pepper to taste

for the zoodles

• 1 pound zucchini ends trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend or Chef's Shakes

Instructions

for the shrimp

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Add garlic and oil to a food processor and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Add the scallions, parsley, chili, a big pinch of salt, 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest and about half of the lemon juice, and pulse until minced.
• Season the shrimp with a little salt and pepper, and toss with the green sauce. Scrape into a medium roasting pan and pour in the white wine or stock. Roast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Sauce will be bubbly and shrimp pink and opaque.

for the zoodles

• While the shrimp cooks, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
• Use a spiral slicer or a serrated vegetable peeler to create "noodles" from all of the zucchini. Saute the zucchini for 5 minutes, tossing gently. Season with salt, pepper, and the seasoning blend. Remove from heat.

serve

• To serve, pour the shrimp and sauce over the zoodles in the pan (or, if you're feeling fancy, transfer the zoodles to a serving plate and spoon the shrimp and sauce over top). Drizzle with the remaining lemon juice and sprinkle the dish, conservatively, with crushed red chili flakes, if using.

Nutritional information, if shown, is provided as a courtesy only, and is not to be taken as medical information or advice. The nutritional values of your preparation of this recipe are impacted by several factors, including, but not limited to, the ingredient brands you use, any substitutions or measurement changes you make, and measuring accuracy.

Adapted from The New York Times