Shrimp Mikrolimano (Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta)
This dish has a long, difficult to pronounce name, so we can refer to it as Baked Shrimp. Piraeus, the port of Athens, has a lovely area from which this dish is named, thus the name Mikrolimano. The dish originated there, most likely because of the abundance of seafood.
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes trending where feta cheese is melted into a liquid-y goo, then pasta is stirred in. I't’s not my thing, folks, for a couple of reasons. “Real” feta is made from sheep’s milk, or a blend of sheep’s and goat’s milk. Never cow’s milk. The milk comes from sheep and goat breeds that graze freely in specific geographical areas in Greece, which stand out for their high biodiversity, and special soil and weather conditions. No powdered milk, colorants or preservatives are used in Feta PDO productional there are never antibiotics. So, as dairy goes, it’s a “clean” cheese, unlike many others. PDO stands for Protected Designation of Origin. There are many foods in Europe which receive the PDO designation, because these foods are unique to their region and traditional production style. They are protected because they cannot be made like this anywhere else in the world. Similar to Champagne, which can only be called Champagne if it is from the Champagne region of France. Everything else is just sparkling wine. So if you’re going to make this recipe, try purchasing authentic feta, rather than the counterfeit, pre-crumbled cow’s milk stuff, and see what a difference it makes!
I like to use small baking dishes and serve this as individual appetizers. This recipe is for one serving. Feel free to multiply for as many servings as you would like to make. Or, for family style, prepare as directed, then, using the same sauté pan, nestle the shrimp back into the sauce and bake in the oven until bubbly. You can scoop it out and serve it over cauliflower rice, or cooked rice if you can eat grains. Be sure to give it a squeeze of fresh lemon just before serving.
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Shrimp Mikrolimano (Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta)
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon grass fed ghee or clarified butter
- 3 to 4 peeled and deveined tail-on shrimp
- 2 Tablespoons red onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons red and yellow peppers, diced
- 1 cup quartered heirloom grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup organic tomato sauce
- salt and pepper
- fresh oregano
- goat's or sheep's milk feta cheese
- fresh lemon
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. (Or, if your air fryer has an oven or broil setting, it's perfect for this individual-size appetizer).
- Preheat a sauté pan and add the ghee and olive oil.
- Add the shrimp and heat through, just until slightly golden on each side. remove from pan and place into a baking dish.
- Add the onion and pepper and sauté until slightly softened. Add the tomatoes and continue to sauté until the liquid has reduced. Add the tomato sauce.
- Pour the sauce mixture over the shrimp in the baking dish and crumble feta over top. Add the fresh oregano. Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the feta is browned slightly. After removing from oven squeeze fresh lemon over dish before serving, and serve hot.
