This month, I have been sharing 31 days of healthy recipes on my Twitter and my Facebook accounts. As I have been looking through my Mom in the City archives for the best recipes to share, I found a shrimp and gnocchi recipe from over a decade ago.
At an Aquagrill lunch that was sponsored by Stop & Shop, Sorrento Cheese and Président Cheese, Aquagrill’s Chef Jeremy Marshall shared how to make several great dishes. I asked if I could share the recipes with you and he was kind enough to oblige.
Aquagrill’s Chef Jeremy Marshall
The sauteed wild Pacific shrimp with President Fat-Free Feta was the entree dish. The dish also included zucchini and roasted plum tomatoes. Everything was in a delicious fresh basil sauce. You can find the shrimp and gnocchi recipe below.
Shrimp and Gnocchi
Sauteed Wild Pacific Shrimp with President Feta Cheese Gnocchi
Parisienne Zucchini and Roasted Plum Tomatoes in a Fresh Basil Sauce
(By Aquagrill’s Chef Jeremy Marshall)
Yields: 4 portions
Ingredients
- 8 plum tomatoes, halved
- 20 melon balls of zucchini
- 20 large shrimp (peeled, deveined and cute in half)
- 2 tbsp chopped garlic
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (Reserve 3 ounces for sauteing shrimp.)
- 1/2 tsp chopped thyme
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Gnocchi Ingredients
- 1 lb potatoes, peeled
- 12 ozs President feta cheese
- 1 lb flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg
- Pepper to taste
Gnocchi Method
1. Boil potatoes until tender.
2. Place potatoes on a sheet tray in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven and dry for 7 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and pass through a food mill.
4. Place flour over the potatoes. Add in egg and feta.
5. Slowly mix potato and flour until thoroughly combined. Roll into 1/2 inch balls.
Basil Sauce Ingredients
- 3 ozs white chicken stock (or broth)
- 6 ozs butter
- 1/2 bunch basil (Reserve 4 basil tops for garnish.)
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Basil Sauce Method
1. Boil chicken stock and butter together.
2. Chop basil (stems and leaves).
3. Add basil to boiling chicken stock and butter.
4. Transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth and bright green.
5. Strain through a fine sieve or chamois.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Vegetable Garnish
1. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper.
2. Add garlic and thyme.
3. Place on a sheet pan in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 15 minutes (until soft but not mushy).
4. Cool, peel skin, then rough chop.
5. Adjust seasoning.
6. Blanch zucchini balls in boiling salted water until the water begins to boil at the edge of the pot.
7. Remove to iced salted water. Strain and reserve.
Cooking Method and Plating
1. Season shrimp with salt and pepper.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a medium saute pan.
3. When the pan begins to smoke, add shrimp and saute for 30 seconds.
4. Add tomatoes, zucchini and basil sauce.
5. Spoon onto a plate. Garnish with basil tops and serve.
Cooking Tips
I also want to share a few helpful tips that I learned from Chef Marshall as he cooked:
* When preparing gnocchi, it is easy to tell when it is ready. When the water just comes to a boil and the gnocchi floats, it is ready. It will fluff a bit because the egg is expanding. Another word on gnocchi…don’t prepare the dough beforehand.
*Seafood from the wild is preferable to farm-raised seafood. The flavor is better.
*If you cut shrimp in half when serving it with pasta, it will accomplish two things: 1. diners will have more bites of shrimp and 2. it causes the shrimp to have a better texture. (It’s true. I have followed this particular tip since this event.)
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