Mange tes brocolis! – Crevettes aux amandes et purée de brocoli

Nothing too fancy in this post, but rather a very simple combination of shrimps and broccoli. Very few ingredients that work well together.

Vegetable purée is a great way to have the kids who are reluctant to eat vegetable actually eat them and like them too! The vegetables are hidden is some kids-friendly texture and less intimidating to a kid. Instead of the shrimps, you could perfectly use white fish or salmon as well. You don’t need a lot of ingredients nor fancy ones to make this dish that will end up pleasing everyone. I bought broccoli for my dog and bird who eat them as we would eat candies.

I have a strange relationship with this vegetable, I am not a huge fan of broccoli, even though I like them, there is a little contradiction in all of this. I don’t like the fact that they’re everywhere and restaurants add broccoli in many of their side dishes, so they became the vegetable “bouche-trou” literally meaning “stopgap” or “filler”, (another one of those words that are had to translate and could not find any other one). Then, I like them because they’re not very expensive, you can keep them for a while, and they add a little color in your plate…and are filled with vitamin C…but they are still on my ‘ordinary’ list of vegetables such as carrots and peas.

I prefer broccoli in soups and purée, rather than sautés or in pieces. Nothing is wasted in this dish, since the stems of the broccoli are used as well as the florets, so one broccoli head you usually get at the store is enough for about 4 people.

This dish has great complementary flavors and textures, the lemon adds a citrusy flavor to the naturally sweet shrimps all enhanced by almonds and smooth broccoli. With its few ingredients and its simplicity, it’s a great dish.

Ingredients for 4

For the purée

  • 1 large broccoli head equivalent of 3 cups
  • 2 tbs heavy cream or crème fraîche
  • salt and pepper

For the shrimps

  • 20 large shrimps, deveined
  • 2 shallots
  • 2 tbs sliced almond, toasted
  • 1 large tomato, sliced
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

For the broccoli

Cut the floret of broccoli, and the stem. Cut the stem in small pieces. Bring a pot of water to a boil, cook broccoli and stems for a few minutes, about 4-5 minutes. Do not overcook broccoli or they’ll lose they vibrant green color.

Using an immersion blender, mix broccoli nto a purée texture. Place in a pot and add cream. Cook always stirring for a few minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the shrimps

Heat olive oil in a skillet, add shallots and brown them. Add shrimps, cook for a few minutes until the shrimps turn pink and are just cooked, add lemon juice and cook for a few more minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Grill tomato slices in a grill pan. Cook on one side for a few minutes.

Sprinkle almonds on top of puree, place shrimps on top of grilled tomato, add one tsp of shrimp juice and sprinkle with sliced almonds.