Gambas al ajillo (or garlic shrimp) is one of my favorite dishes from Spanish cuisine. Simple, quick, and easy to prepare with just a few ingredients. But so incredibly delicious!
For this, I use Oro de Genave, a wonderful organic extra virgin olive oil that is perfect for this dish. "Extra vergine" is the Italian name for the same quality: cold-pressed oil from the first pressing.
For this dish, you will need for 2 people:
- 200 grams of (small) raw gambas
- 3 cloves of garlic (more if you like!)
- parsley
- small peppers; for this dish, I bought small dried peppers at the local Asian supermarket
- Baguette
- Extra virgin olive oil Oro de Genave
Preparation:
- First, clean the gambas, wash them well, and then pat them dry. The drier the gambas are, the less they will splatter in the hot olive oil.
- Slice the garlic, not too thinly, otherwise the garlic will burn.
- Heat a generous amount of Oro de Genave extra virgin olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. I use a small cast-iron pan for this. Then add the garlic and peppers to the pan and sauté for about a minute.
- Next, add the shrimp and regularly spoon the olive oil over them. The shrimp cook very quickly, which can be recognized by their pink color. You can add salt and pepper to taste.
- When everything is thoroughly cooked, you can remove the pan from the heat.
- Serve this dish directly from the cast-iron pan or serve in a tapas dish with some parsley sprinkled over it.
- Enjoy this dish with a fresh baguette and dip the bread generously in the olive oil to soak up all the wonderful flavors and spiciness.
Our olive oil tip for this recipe
For this recipe, we love to use Oro de Genave from Andalusia. This extra virgin olive oil, with its intense flavor and suitability for frying at higher temperatures, perfectly complements this dish.
Buen provecho!
