Levantine cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Gambari bil Tahini (Shrimp with Tahini)

Shrimp baked in a clay pot under a light tahini-lemon sauce, until the surface bubbles.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 600 g shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 150 g tahini
• 2 lemons
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 onions
• 150 ml water
• 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat; pat the shrimp dry, toss with salt, pepper, and the juice of half a lemon, and let sit for 10 min.
2. Cut the onions into thin half-rings and sauté in 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat for 8 min. until soft and pale golden.
3. Stir the tahini with the juice of one and a half lemons, the finely grated garlic, and salt – the paste will seize up at first – and gradually whisk in the water to a smooth, creamy sauce.
4. Put the onions and shrimp into a clay pot or baking dish, pour the tahini sauce over, and drizzle with the remaining olive oil.
5. Bake for 18–20 min., until the sauce has set, bubbles at the edges, and the surface shows light brown spots.
6. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan for 3 min., scatter over the pot with chopped parsley, and serve lukewarm with flatbread.