Shrimp Saganaki with Feta Cheese

Written by Loredana Arion in Comfort Food, Main Dish

The transition to working from home (it is almost a full year already! 😮) came with a great new habit: I now cook every day. Still, no matter how much I enjoy spending hours testing new recipes and complex cooking techniques, weekdays come with a strict rule. Everything must be quick, allowing me to peacefully enjoy my lunch within my one-hour break from work. This naturally created the need to find quick, healthy, and extremely delicious meals, just like the recipe I am sharing today.

My go-to routine for a fast lunch is usually pretty simple: chicken breast with rice or mixed vegetables. Some people say it is boring, I say it is healthy and efficient 🙂 . But because monotony does not mix well with a passion for cooking, today I decided to switch things up. I felt much more creative and craved a warm, flavorful, and different meal, so I made a quick shrimp saganaki recipe. After the first bite, I knew it deserved a prime spot on the blog, and it went straight into my favorite “quick and delicious” collection.

The secret that transforms this fast meal into pure comfort food is the roasted tomato sauce, an aromatic base that truly makes all the difference. No fuss, no complex skills required, and zero messy dishes left behind.

Shrimp Saganaki with Feta Cheese

Recipe by Loredana Arion

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Ingredients

500 g cherry tomatoes
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
250 g frozen pre-cooked shrimp (thawed a few hours before cooking)
100 g feta cheese
1 small onion
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
a few pieces of fresh hot chilli pepper
1 g sugar
salt and black pepper to taste
oregano or parsley for garnish

Directions

Making the Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce
First, I prepared the tomato sauce from scratch because I wanted it homemade, not from a bottle. I washed the cherry tomatoes and placed them on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Then, I added the peeled garlic cloves, olive oil, a pinch of salt, and pepper. I baked everything in a preheated oven at 200°C (390°F) for about 10 minutes.
Once the tomatoes were perfectly roasted, I took them out of the oven, let them cool down for about 2 minutes, and then transferred everything into a blender (a hand blender works just as well). I blended it for 1 minute and then passed the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any remaining skin or seeds. The result was a smooth, aromatic, and super tasty sauce.
Preparing and Cooking the Shrimp
Next, I prepped the shrimp: I washed and cleaned them, then placed them on a paper towel to absorb all the excess water.
finely chopped the onion and sautéed it in a pan with coconut oil (you can also use olive or sunflower oil, but I prefer coconut oil because it is healthier). Then, I added the sweet paprika, the gram of sugar, and the fresh tomato sauce, letting it simmer for 1-2 minutes.
added the shrimp into the pan and let them cook over low heat for another 2-3 minutes, making sure to flip them side to side. After that, I tossed in the pieces of hot chilli pepper, plus salt and black pepper to taste. Tip: Be careful with the salt, since the feta cheese we are adding next is already quite salty!
Baking the Saganaki
I removed the pan from the heat, topped it with the crumbled feta cheese, and sprinkled some dried parsley over it (you can easily substitute this with oregano).
Finally, I covered the pan with aluminum foil and placed it into the oven at 200°C (390°F) for 20 minutes.
I served it hot alongside crunchy slices of toast.

Enjoy!