Agliata is an incredibly simple sauce made of parsely, extra virgin olive oil and garlic that is often minced finely and served over fried or pickled fish. My mom prepared this on special occasions when I was growing up as a raw sauce for fried whiting, and other times as the base of a clam sauce (a great recipe for another day). She would chop everything with a mezzluna knife, sawing the knife back and forth for what seemed like forever to get the parsley and oil so tiny that there wouldn’t be a singly distinguishable leaf in the sauce. The flavor was so distinct, and when eaten without being cooked? Let’s just say it’s not for the faint of heart.
Thanks to a food processor, blender, or Nutribullet, you’ll be able to prepare this sauce in less than 5 minutes. This sauce makes for a great, but luxurious, weeknight meal. In this recipe, we’ll simmer the sauce with shrimp that has been quickly seared – giving you an all in cooking time of 15 minutes, max.
Gamberi Agliata | Shrimp with Parsley Oil
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + 2 tablespoons
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch (3 cups, loosely packed) flat leaf parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pinch red pepper flakes, to taste
Directions
- Prepare your Agliata sauce by roughly chopping a bunch of parsley and removing the skin from the garlic. Place into a high powered blender, and add in 1/2 cup of olive oil. Blend until the mixture becomes a sauce, scraping down the edges of the blender if needed.
- Pat shrimp dry and season them with a pinch of salt.
- Heat a cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed pan. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and heat through, about 2 minutes. The oil is ready when it has thinned and swirls easily around the pan. Add the shrimp and sear for no longer than 1 minute per side. Work in batches to avoid crowding the pan, if necessary. Remove the shrimp from the pan.
- Add the agliata to the pan and allow the sauce to heat and the garlic to soften. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the shrimp back into the pan, and stir with the agliata so that the sauce covers all of the fish. Let the shrimp cook for an addition 1-2 minutes, then remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon and plate. Spoon the remaining agliata over the top of the dish.
