If you’re in the mood for a nice warm bean salad with a few shrimp on top, I’ve got the perfect recipe for you today. It’s not a difficult dish to put together, so I think you’ll enjoy it. This dish is actually under the Antipasti heading in my huge Italian cookbook. I’m learning what all these terms mean as I go. If you aren’t aware, Antipasti is the plural of Antipasto. It means, “before the meal.” I suppose this sweet little bowl of shrimp and beans would fall into that category, even though it doesn’t consist of the more traditional meats and cheeses.
The Recipe
There are many methods for preparing this dish and I chose my own. If someone were to hand you all the ingredients and not tell you what to do, I’m sure you could figure it out and have your version look just like mine. Basically, this entire thing is a combination of shrimp, white beans, onion, celery, sage, garlic, basil and a few other ingredients. Everything gets warmed up and then the shrimp is placed on top of the rest. It’s a filling and tasty dish that’s sure to satisfy.
Ingredients
Serves: 4-6
2 16-Ounce Cans White Beans
1 Onion, Diced
2 Celery Stalks, Chopped
1 Teaspoon Ground Sage
2 Tablespoons Garlic, Minced
1 14-Ounce Can Diced Tomatoes
1/4 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/8 Cup Fresh Basil, Chopped
8 Large Shrimp
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Step-by-Step Instructions
I’d like to thank Carlo Bernasconi and Christian Teubner for their awesome resource called The Complete Italian Cookbook. This is the treasure that I found at a bookstore that only cost me $5. The book is full of photos and weighs about ten pounds. Incredible find.
Cook the Onion & Celery
Warm a large pot over medium heat and add in half the olive oil. Then, add the onion and celery to the pot and let cook for about five minutes or until both ingredients are soft. At that time, add the sage and garlic and cook for another five minutes.
Add in Beans & Tomatoes
Time to warm up the rest of the ingredients. Add in the beans, tomatoes and basil and let everything cook for another five minutes. The goal at this point is to simply warm the ingredients up, not cook them. When finished, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper to the pot and stir it in. Season to taste.
Cook the Shrimp
I bought frozen cooked shrimp in the bag, so mine didn’t require cooking. I did warm up a pan and toss the thawed shrimp into it to give them a quick sear though. If you bought raw shrimp, defrost them and peel them. Then, cook them until they’re completely pink. If you bought cooked shrimp, just defrost them and give them a quick sear over medium-high heat. Use a bit of oil in the pan. After a minute or so, flip the shrimp and cook for another minute. Then, remove them from the heat.
Plate & Serve
This is the easy part. Divide the bean mixture between bowls. Then, divide the shrimp between the bowls as well. Just place the shrimp right on top of the beans. Then, drizzle the remaining olive oil over each bowl. Many dishes in Italy get olive oil drizzled on them. Serve and enjoy!
The Final Bean & Shrimp Salad
I enjoyed this salad very much. It was tasty and filling and everything I expected it to be. If you decide to give this recipe a try, please let me know your thoughts in the comment section down below. Thanks for reading!
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