Our local Wegman’s has this really great frozen shrimp that has nice texture and flavor, so I have been making a lot of shrimp lately. Shrimp (or any seafood) is my daughter’s favorite. This lemon garlic butter shrimp with polenta takes under 30 minutes and is delicious.
As I have mentioned before, I prefer to use good frozen (raw) seafood as opposed to fresh. We are too far from the coast here to get really good fresh seafood, so I get fresher tasting seafood with frozen. If you live near a coast, then obviously sub fresh.
The shrimp in this dish are seasoned with cajun seasoning, tons of garlic, lemon and butter as well as some fresh herbs if you have them, a little dried if you don’t. I like to pan sear my shrimp unless they are for shrimp cocktail or something similar. In a hot pan, it only takes a few minutes to sear and cook the shrimp.
I served these over parmesan polenta with some garlic spinach for vegetables, but you could serve these on a salad, on rice, pretty much any way you like them.
Lemon Garlic Butter Shrimp with Parmesan Polenta
Ingredients
For the polenta:
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 2 cups milk or chicken stock if you prefer no milk
- 1 cup dry polenta
- 1/2 cup grated parm
- salt and pepper to taste
For the shrimp:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 1 1/2 lbs raw peeled and deveined shrimp
- 1 tbsp cajun seasoning
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh
- 1 lemon juiced
Instructions
- To make the polenta, melt the butter in a saucepan. Let it cook until it starts to brown. Add the milk or chicken stock and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and whisk in the polenta. Cook, stirring, until it is thick and creamy according to the package directions. Add the parm and season with salt and pepper.
- For the shrimp, heat the oil in a heavy frying pan until very hot. Add the shrimp and cajun seasoning and sear on one side, then flip and sear on the other. Lower the heat and add the butter, garlic, and thyme. Cook, stirring until the shrimp is fully cooked. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over the polenta drizzled with the garlic lemon butter from the bottom of the pan.