Easy Butterflied Baked Shrimp

As far as I know, here in Quebec, we call this Shrimp Scampi, but when I did a search for that, I came up with something totally different.... So I found this Wolfgang Puck recipe at the Food Network, but changed it a little bit because of what I had on hand. This is a great, quick one that would be ideal for serving for New Year's Eve. You could make it earlier in the day, and then it cooks in just minutes. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 16 extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on (I used about a pound of large frozen shrimp)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt
• 2 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp fresh or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (don't go for dried...)
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 4 ounces butter, melted
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Lemon wedges, as garnish

Method. 

Start by butterflying your shrimp, shell on, from head to tail where the vein was supposed to be removed... but don't you find deveined shrimp always seem to have some part of the vein left? Anyway, the original recipe suggests you also make three little slits going the opposite way, but I didn't read that the first time round, and it wasn't really a big deal. 

Preheat your oven to 500°F. Mix together the breadcrumbs, herbs, s & p, and garlic. Drizzle a little butter onto your baking sheet to prevent the shells sticking. Then, it's pretty much an assembly line. Think of Chicken Cutlets... Same method, except with butter instead of eggs and milk. Dunk the opened shrimp into the butter, then into the breadcrumb mixture. Then, place each shrimp on your baking sheet, open-faced up. Single layer only!

At this point, you can refrigerate the shrimp for a couple of hours if needed (Take it out a few minute before baking if you do this) or pop it into the oven for five minutes. This recipe is so easy, and was delicious. Happy Holidays and may you eat until you can eat no more!

Have a great day!