Olá, bem vindo! Have you heard about Escondidinho de Camarão before?
Don’t you love how Portuguese sounds? It is so smooth!!
Like this recipe I have for today 🙂 May I present you with the fabulous:
Escondidinho de Camarão
Its name literally means something like hidden shrimp.
Why are they hiding?
I don’t know, maybe they just want to sleep. Well, they are tucked in a sheet of cheese gratin and yuca. Who wouldn’t want to stay there forever?
I must warn you: this recipe has 3 different parts or layers that need to come together. You should REALLY wait until all 3 are done to taste it… ooor you can just grab a little bit of it without anyone noticing…I couldn’t resist!
Either way: it is BEYOND amazing. I combined a traditional-looking recipe from Panela de Barros and a little bit of fun exciting flavors from this Chynthia Presser’ recipe. But adding more garlic, olive oil and cheese to everything of course (my staples for a happy tummy 🙂 ).
Do you need a reason for enjoying this amazing appetizer?
To indulge in a yummy Brazilian recipe, yes, but because it’s a powerful summer recipe too!
If you really want to impress your guests, make this dish, say its name in portuguese name and listo!
Escondidinho de Camarão
Equipment
- 5 small oven-resistant ramekins
- Food processor
Ingredients
Yuca Paste
- 2 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1½ 1 ½ pound (or 1 pound) yuca
- 1 1 Tbsp of European style yogurt
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
Shrimp and veggie paste
- 3 tbsps of oil, for simmering (use 2 different times)
- 4 garlic cloves (2 for veggie paste, 2 for shrimp mix)
- ½ onion
- 1 tbsp of chili paste
- 2 tsp teaspoons of rosemary
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 9 oz of shrimp, cooked and cleaned
- 1 handful of cilantro
- 4 tbsps of mascarpone cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel yuca and cut it into smaller pieces. Then, let it cook in hot water for 60 minutes until it softens.
- In the meantime, you can prepare the tasty bottom layer. Pour some oil into your pan and wait until it's hot enough.
- Simmer the diced onions and half of your sliced garlic cloves for a couple of minutes.
- Add the chili paste and the rosemary and mix well. Then, bring tomatoes to the mix and let it simmer over medium heat, so it creates a little bit of a sauce.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then, add some cilantro and put it aside.
- Use the other half of your garlic to simmer your shrimp. Then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- After ten minutes over medium heat, add the veggie paste you had aside.
- Mix well, so all the flavors blend well together, but without stirring them too much. Just enough to have an even mix.
- Before taking the yuca out of the fire, check it with a fork to see if it's soft enough.
- When the yuca is ready, take it out of the fire and drain it.
- Put the yuca back in the pot and add butter. Then, smash the yuca and the butter with a fork.
- Blend your mashed yuca with European-style yogurt in a food processor. Season it with salt and nutmeg. Be careful while processing the yuca, as it can be too sticky for your food processor.
- To build your escondidinhos, serve the shrimp and veggie paste in oven-resistant ramekins. Next, put the mascarpone cheese on top and spread it smoothly. And finally, put the yuca paste on top, filling each ramekin. To add some style, shape the top with a fork, drawing circles smoothly.
- Broil in the oven for five minutes and serve.
- Enjoy! é muito gostoso! 😉
Video
Notes
If you liked this Escondidinho de Camarão recipe, you might like some of my other recipes too. You can check them here.
And remember, if you try this recipe and want to share your pictures, remember to tag me @lacooquette on Instagram. I’d love to share your pictures on my IG stories.
Note: We published this blog post originally in July 2, 2014. I felt as if after trying out all these Brazilian recipes for the World Cup I suddenly were becoming a little bit more Brazilian myself 🙂 Give them a try!
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