The darling  of my last Greek Supper Club had to be these canapes with shrimp butter, poached shrimp and caviar on top. To ensure that these didn’t get gobbled-up prematurely I had sent them out to our hungry guests one platter at a time. This works in theory unless your guests barge into the kitchen to pick-up another platter of these. No surprise, they are dreamy, elegant, melt-in-your mouth and ever so pretty.

I first tried these as Shrimp Butter when I helped Paula of Dragon’s Kitchen cook a Titanic Dinner and from just tasting the shrimp mixture I was hooked. Shrimp butter is made by sweating vegetables, shell-on shrimp, deglazing with booze and then processing with cheese, tomato paste and cheese. Finally, the mixture is passed through a sieve or food mill and then chilled to form shrimp butter.

This pate-like mixture is then piped or smeared on crostinis, topped with poached shrimp and garnished with parsley and some caviar. Exquisite, not hard to make and rather affordable for most entertaining budgets. If you want to make something new for your guests this year. My take on the shrimp butter mimics my recipe for Shrimp Saganaki: shrimp, sweet onions, mushrooms, Ouzo, tomatoes, sweet red peppers & chills, oregano and Feta cheese.

The result is a new meze appetizer for the Greek host/hostess. Try the recipe out, let me know how they go and I know you and your guests with love them!

Divine Shrimp Bites (Θεϊκά Γαριδο-Μπουκιες)

(makes approx 20)

Shrimp Butter

2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup diced red onions

2 Tbsp. diced red peppers

1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1 clove of garlic, smashed

1 lb. shell-on uncooked shrimp, deveined

1 shot of Ouzo

1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1 tsp. dried Greek oregano

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of chilli flakes

Garnish

10 small shrimp, gently poached in seasoned water with diced onions, celery, carrot, lemon juice, salt and pepper

fresh flat leaf parsley

2 Tbsp. of red caviar

1 baguette, thinly sliced and baked in a 300F oven for 10 minutes or until firm

1. In a large skillet add the onions, diced peppers, mushrooms, garlic, tomato paste and sweat for about 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat to medium high and add the shrimp  and sauté then add the Ouzo and stir for a couple of minutes or until the shrimp have turned pink.
2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly then empty into a food processor (yes, shells and all) along with the crumbled Feta, ground pepper, pinch of salt. Process until almost smooth then taste and adjust seasoning, add chilli flakes and dried Greek oregano to taste, quickly process again and pour the mixture (in batches) into a sieve or food mill.
3. Press the mixture through sieve (or food mill) with a bowl underneath to catch the refined shrimp mixture, discard shells and solids. Drizzle some more extra-virgin olive oil, mix in and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
4. In the meantime, you may slice your baguette into thin crostinis and lightly bake. This is also a good time to poach your shrimp and then slice them in half to make 20 shrimp garnishes
5. The next day, your shrimp mixture will have set and become firm enough to adhere to a crostini without being runny. If too thin, add some more crumbled cheese (mash with a fork) and blend in and chill for another hour.
6. To assemble, place shrimp butter in a piping bag and decorate each crostini with the shrimp butter (or just smear some with an offset spatula. Them place the cooked shrimp on top and parsley and top with red caviar. Serve room temperature with an Ouzo Tirnavou on ice or Paros Moraitis Sillogi White.