All-star grilled shrimp recipe, tossed in the best roasted garlic and herb sauce! Makes the perfect shrimp appetizer or with pasta for dinner. The sauce makes all the difference here, and if you can't use cilantro, try fresh basil or mint.
Roast the garlic: Trim the top off the garlic head to expose a bit of the cloves, but keep the garlic cloves intact. Drizzle generously with olive oil and wrap in foil. Roast the garlic in the heated oven for about 10 minutes or until slightly tender and fragrant. When ready, remove from the oven. Let cool briefly. then peel and crush or chop the roasted garlic as finely as possible. (See cook's tip #1)
Prepare the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the roasted garlic with the remaining sauce ingredients of fresh cilantro (or basil if you can't have cilantro), lime juice, white wine, extra virgin olive oil and chili paste (harissa is also an excellent option here). Whisk together and set aside.
Grill the shrimp: Heat an outdoor grill or an indoor griddle or cast iron skillet over high heat. Pat shrimp dry and season with salt and pepper, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil and toss. Arrange shrimp on heated surface and cook for about 2 on one side or until the shrimp turns just pink, then flip over and cook until the shrimp turns just pink, maybe another 1 to 2 minutes (even the largest shrimp will be ready within about 5 minutes, so be careful not to overcook it).
Toss the shrimp with the sauce and serve! Immediately toss the grilled shrimp in the delicious roasted garlic sauce.
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Notes
To work-ahead, you can roast the garlic ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. See this tutorial for how to roast garlic. You can also use store-bought roasted garlic in this recipe, if you must.
Double the sauce to serve with pasta. This recipe will serve 4 to 6 for dinner. I highly recommend that you double the amount of sauce and toss the shrimp into your favorite pasta for dinner.
As an appetizer, this shrimp will serve up to 10. There are two ways to serve it as an appetizer. Toss the shrimp in the sauce and arrange on a platter, or you can serve the cooked shrimp plain and add the roasted garlic cilantro sauce next to it for dipping. Of course, it's never a bad idea to add some crusty garlic bread.
Leftovers & storage: Store leftover shrimp in a tight-lid container and refrigerate for 2 days or so. Heating the shrimp again will likely result in rubbery, overcooked shrimp, so it's best to eat leftover cooked shrimp cold or at room temperature.