Shrimp with Basil Breadcrumbs

Back to Back Barefoot Contessa recipes! Actually, this is an adapation of an Ina recipe, Grilled Clams with Basil Breadcrumbs. Don't like clams, so I substituted shrimp dressed simply with some olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper.

The basil breadcrumbs were great and with a little tweaking would be delicious as a breading for pork, chicken, or as a topping for a fancy-schmancy mac n'cheese. I loved the sun dried tomato, basil, and pine nut combination. For this application, the only changes I would make would be to add a couple of tablespoons of melted butter over the breadcrumbs to help them adhere to the shrimp a little better. This was a great dinner on a hot summer night. Simple yet sophisticated!

Shrimp with Basil Breadcrumbs

adapted from recipe by Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups coarse bread crumbs, toasted
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 sun-dried tomato halves in oil, drained and coarsely chopped (I used dried)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound 26-30 count shrimp (I used frozen, peeled & diveined)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper

2 tablespoons melted butter

Heat a gas grill or prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals.

Combine the bread crumbs, olive oil, lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, salt and pepper in a large serving bowl and set aside.

Place shrimp in large bowl. Toss with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Grill shrimp until done. Remove the shrimp from the grill and place them in the bowl with the bread crumb mixture and toss together. Drizzle with the melted butter, and serve hot.