Shrimp is easy and fast to prepare and is the star of this Roasted Shrimp Cocktail recipe

I hope your Fourth of July was good. My plans — just like the recipe I wrote last week — didn’t turn out perfectly and it was a great holiday anyway.

Forgive my typo on the Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe — I omitted the 1 teaspoon of baking powder. A couple of readers caught it and wrote in. I’m sorry. I did however bake two of those blueberry coffee cakes over the holiday weekend, and both were devoured.

This week’s recipe is by Ina Garten, famously known as Barefoot Contessa, and comes from her “Back to Basics” cookbook. One thing I learned during shut down is that shrimp is the quickest protein from the freezer to the plate. We had shrimp about once a week because of its ease.

Years ago in what feels like another life, when I worked for Niman Ranch, I attended the Fancy Food Show in Anaheim. This Kansas girl didn’t even know there was such a thing, and my oh my was it delightful. Can you imagine massive expo halls full of every fancy type and brand of food you’ve ever heard of, and not heard of? Oh, and they sample everything. It’s very hard to not gain pounds per day, but it’s a food lover’s dream come true.

At that Fancy Food Show, I was introduced to the famous Ina Garten. One never knows what a famous person might be like in real life. She was as delightfully down-to-earth and as gracious and I’d hoped. I checked that one off of the bucket list, although I’d like to meet her again. Garten is my favorite cookbook writer because I love her food style, which uses simple, fresh, delicious, quality ingredients and is not too fussy.

This recipe makes a delightful appetizer and also a main course. It’s very quick to make if your shrimp is thawed, and who doesn’t love that on a hot summer day? Mixing the sauce takes a few minutes, and I like to serve the shrimp cocktail with a big, fresh garden salad. If you enjoy wine, a crisp light Rose would be delightful to accompany your meal.

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

2 pounds (12-15 count) shrimp

1 tablespoon good olive oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sauce

½ cup Heinz chili sauce

½ cup Heinz ketchup

3 tablespoons prepared horseradish

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place them on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt and pepper and spread them in one layer. Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through. Set aside to cool.

For the sauce, combine the chili sauce, ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Serve as a dip with shrimp.