An easy Spanish Style Shrimps in A Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Sauce

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This amazingly simple Gambas Al Ajillo is one of the most popular Spanish tapas dish . Don’t let the simplicity fool you. Huge jumbo shrimps collaborating with the abundance of garlic and extra virgin olive oil surly makes it super delicious. Hence, that flavor mashup makes it the primary reason that it is the number one most popular dish served in tapas bars or many small plates restaurants.

While this amazing Spanish style shrimps is usually served as an appetizer or as part of a tapas style menu, it can also definitely be served as a main course. Moreover, many people typically eat Gambas Al Ajillo with bread. That’s the perfect umami taste combo because the bread soaks up that scrumptious garlicky sauce. As a main course choice it pairs very well with rice or pasta. The garlicky sauce with the shrimps swimming in it soaks the rice or pasta similar to shrimp scampi.

Further, there are many slight variations of this Spanish style shrimps dish, similar to the variety of shrimp scampi recipes. However, the basic ingredients do remain the same. Shrimps., lots of garlic and extra virgin olive oil. The original Spanish Gambas Al Ajillo recipe usually calls for using hot paprika. Nowadays, red hot pepper flakes is commonly used. No matter what tweaks are made to the dish, using quality ingredients yields the most flavorful and delicious shrimps in garlic sauce.

Choice of ingredients and cooking vessel matters when making this Gambas Al Ajillo or Spanish Style Shrimps in Garlic Olive Oil

Moreover, the shrimps choice for this Gambas Al Ajillo is important. At minimum, the desired shrimp size should be extra large. However, jumbo shrimps, used in this recipe, is the preferred size. Kick it up a notch by using prawns or colossal size shrimps. They are the ultimate juicy selection. Because shrimps cook quickly, the larger sizes allows for less chance of overcooking. Next, the garlic. A lot of fresh garlic. As much as needed to make the shrimps and oil very garlicky. Then the oil. Be sure to use a quality extra virgin olive oil. My go to oil is this California Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The flavor and color of this oil are perfect for many recipes.

As important as the ingredients, the cooking vessel plays a key role. A well seasoned cast iron skillet like this Lodge works amazing. The cast iron allows the shrimps to get a nice grill-like crust in a short amount of time. And cooking the sauce in the same pan is an opportunity to use of the tiny bits of delicious fond left behind by the shrimps. However you choose to tweak the Gambas Al Ajillo,, you are going to love it, while impressing your guests. Happy Cooking!

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