My neighborhood supermarket always has these really great head on shrimp and each time I see them I always make a mental note to get some on my next trip. This time I grabbed some and immediately knew I wanted to pan roast them with lots of garlic and of course, butter. I got them home and they were so perfect they didn’t even need a lot done to them. I absolutely wanted to capture all that clean shrimp flavor & make it shine through. I love the look of head on shrimp but I also love that when roasted, the shells do a great job of keeping the shrimp nice and firm without overcooking them. You want to use a good salted butter with this recipe because combined with the liquid that the shrimp releases when cooked, it makes a rich pan sauce as well.

Here, I let the high heat of my oven do all the hard work. I split my ingredients in half because I knew I wanted some char on the shrimp without risking my other delicate ingredients. Did I mention this recipe is only 4 ingredients! It’s the perfect thing to make when you barely want to cook or when you have guests over during the week. These go great with a side or if you want to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, enjoy them as is. Don’t forget some bread to scoop up all the shrimpy garlic butter.

Pan Roasted Garlic Butter Head On Shrimp

1lb fresh raw head on shrimp, rinsed off in cold water

1 head of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 bunch parsley, cleaned , dried & chopped

1 stick of butter , divided in half - each half cut into pieces

3T. water or stock

salt & pepper

Turn your oven on to the broil function

With kitchen shears or a small sharp pairing knife, hold the shrimp steady and snip down the back of the shrimp shell; being careful not to take the whole shell off. Devein the shrimp and place on a paper towel to get any remaining water off.  Season with salt and pepper, toss and set aside.

In an oven safe skillet spread a thin layer of butter on the bottom and arrange shrimp in skillet. Sprinkle half of your thinly sliced garlic over the raw shrimp and place half of your cut up butter on top of the shrimp. Add 3T. of desired water or stock to the pan and place in your hot oven, cooking shrimp for about 6 minutes or until until they begin to turn pink.

Once pink, carefully remove shrimp from the oven and add remaining sliced garlic, remaining butter and sprinkle in the chopped parsley. Baste shrimp with the liquid in the bottom of the pan and place the pan in the broil part of your oven (if separate from the oven)

Broil shrimp for 5 minutes or until some char begins to form on the shrimp and garlic, making sure to baste shrimp with the pan liquid. Once cooked and nicely charred, remove from the oven and serve immediately.