Gambas al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp)

I first visited Spain in 2002, on a 10-day spring break trip with members of my eighth grade class. The trip was a whirlwind: we watched flamenco in Andalucía, celebrated Easter and watched the Semana Santa procession in Sevilla, spent an afternoon on a cruise of the Guadalquivir River outside of Córdoba and spent enough time touring the Alhambra in Granada for me to take 3 film rolls’ (!) worth of pictures.*

On our last night of the trip, my teachers arranged for a visit to a traditional tapas bar in Madrid. We tried all the classics: tortilla de patatas of course, patatas bravas with their spicy salsa brava and aioli, fat fried rings of calamares, paper thin slices of jamón Serrano and Manchego cheese. The last dish came in a clay bowl, small pink shrimp sizzling in a hot, garlicky, spicy oil that just begged to be mopped up by thick slices of crusty bread.

It was love at first bite. The shrimp were tender, full of roasted garlickly flavor with a sharp punch from the crushed red pepper. And that oil! I swore I’d never dip bread in anything but that oil ever again. (True story: In high school, I hated bread and so for years, I actually didn’t eat or dip bread. How’s that for following through?)

On my second trip to Spain, when I was there for a semester, I became reacquainted with gambas al ajillo, or garlic shrimp, through my Spanish roommate.** After hearing how much I had enjoyed it the first time, she was appalled that I had never tried to make it myself. And after seeing how easy the recipe was, I was a little shocked too. Her secret to mopping up the oil was to toss the shrimp with pasta to create a round meal rather than a tapas dish.

I made it a few times in Spain and then a few times when I came home. And then, I just kind of stopped. I have a terrible tendency to eat something repeatedly for weeks on end before abandoning it completely, and these gambas were a victim of that. But when my mom offered me a pound of shrimp and the chance to make lunch, I jumped at the opportunity to bring back an old favorite. Thankfully, it was exactly as good as I remember.

*Our trip also included a stop in Toledo, which is known for its metal work, especially with swords. Many of us ended up buying souvenir 2-foot-long swords to carry home with us. To Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. Six months after 9/11. We spent hours in customs trying to get our swords home, only to, in my case at least, have it collect dust at the back of my closet for nine years.

**She was actually Bulgarian, but had lived and worked in Spain for a number of years. She also, after I excitedly purchased a bottle of wine in the supermarket for less than one Euro and drank it with my friends that night, kindly pointed out that we were drinking cooking wine, one of many embarrassing faux pas I committed in Spain.

Gambas al Ajillo

This dish is served as a tapas around Spain, usually accompanied by a thick slice of baguette and a full glass of red wine (those were the days … ). But in our Madrid apartment, I often served this for dinner with spaghetti, topped with freshly grated Parmigiano, of course. At home, we only had whole grain penne. The magic of the dish is the garlic and red pepper-infused oil, so it’s delicious with any carb.

– 2 tablespoons olive oil

– 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

– 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (or 3 guindilla peppers, crushed)

– 1 pound shrimp

– salt and pepper, to taste

1) Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper. Saute until the garlic is browned, stirring often to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn.

2) Toss the shrimp in the oil (be careful that the oil doesn’t splash up on you). Cook for 2 minutes on each side, until pink.

3) Add the salt and pepper. Cook for another minute before removing from the heat. Serve with slices of baguette (tapas-style) or with pasta.

If you’re tossing with pasta:

Start in a large saucepan. Cook shrimp as instructed, while making pasta in a separate pot (you will probably start the pasta before the shrimp, since the shrimp only takes 5-7 minutes). While draining the pasta, reserve some of the pasta water. When the shrimp is finished, pour the cooked pasta into the saucepan with the shrimp and toss well, coating the pasta with the garlic and red pepper-infused oil. Add reserved pasta water, in tablespoon increments, if necessary. Top with chopped parsley.

[print recipe in PDF form]