F8 THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019 LATIMES.COM/FOOD
Long ago, I lived in Astoria, Queens, the Greekest neighborhood in New York City. It’s where I
fell in love with mounds of garlicky taramosalata, giant bowls of tomato, cucumber and red onion chunks stud-
ded with slabs of feta, and whole, grilled fish served with potatoes swimming in lemon juice. But my go-to order
was always shrimp saganaki.¶Saganakiis, at its most basic, just griddled molten-chewy halloumi. At the
restaurants I went to, they’d add shrimp and tomato sauce to the hot cheese — like a relative of shakshuka but
with shrimp and cheese in place of eggs. ¶My at-home version of shrimp saganakihas morphed over the years.
I now use mostly cherry tomatoes in the sauce (instead of canned) because their sweetness plays better with the
shrimp. When tomato season is in full swing, I mix different varieties for a colorful, textural contrast. And,
though it’s not at all Greek to me, I stir in a bit of harissa paste to give the sauce a little heat and complexity. Fi-
nally, I use head-on shrimp and add them right at the end, so they stay juicy.¶Making the dish this way — with
large shrimp sticking out of a spicy sauce — reminds me of another favorite shrimp-in-a-skillet dish, New Orle-
ans-style barbecued shrimp, so I serve my not-quite saganakiwith a crusty baguette, perfect for tearing off
chunks and sweeping through the sauce. Twist off the heads and tail shells, dip the shrimp back in the sauce, and
follow it with a shooter of crispy halloumi. Tear more bread and repeat, repeat, repeat.
Leslie GrowFor The TimesSwipe right on spicy shrimp
BYBENMIMS>>>
Shrimp Saganaki
With Halloumi and
Harissa
35 minutes. Serves 4.This dish’s success relies on the
quality of the shrimp, so splurge
on the best you can find, ideally
fresh, whole ones, but thawed
frozen tails are fine too. Season
the sauce sparingly with salt, as
the shrimp and halloumi bring
their own salinity to the dish.(^2) tablespoons olive oil
(^1) small yellow onion, thinly
sliced
(^2) tablespoons harissa paste
(not the watery, salsa-like
stuff)
(^2) pounds mixed tomatoes,
cut to the same size as cherry
or grape tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon honey
Kosher salt and ground black
pepper
(^12) head-on, shell-on,
extra-jumbo or colossal
shrimp
(^1) package (8 to 10 ounces)
halloumi cheese, drained and
torn into bite-size chunks
Crusty bread, for serving
1 Heat the broiler to high and
place a rack in the top position,
four inches from the broiler
element.
2 Heat the olive oil in a large,
high-sided, ovenproof skillet
over medium-high heat. Add the
onion and cook, stirring occa-
sionally, until softened and
caramelized at the edges, about
15 minutes. Add the harissa and
cook, stirring often, until it is
fragrant and coats the onions
well, about 30 seconds.
3 Stir in the tomatoes and garlic,
reduce the heat to medium and
cover the skillet. Cook until the
tomatoes are lightly broken
down and saucy, about five
minutes. Remove the pan from
the heat and stir in the honey.
Season lightly with salt and
pepper.
4 Tuck all the shrimp into the
sauce, spacing them evenly
throughout the pan, then lightly
shake the pan to settle the
shrimp under a blanket of sauce.
Scatter the halloumi on top,
then place the pan under the
broiler. Cook until the halloumi
is darkly caramelized on top and
the shrimp are cooked through,
about five minutes.
5 Serve hot in the pan with
crusty bread on the side for
dragging through the sauce.
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