Lately I’ve had a severe hankering for the gambas appetizer at South Restaurant in Anchorage. It’s a simple dish – shrimp, olive oil, garlic sautéed to perfection, paprika and guajillo chili topped with parsley.

It’s not really the shrimp that I crave. It’s the flavorful seasoned oil that is so perfect for sopping up with a couple of slices of crusty bread.

I’ve had this dish once a week for the past month. It’s time for me to make it at home.

This dish was surprisingly easy to create at home. I didn’t have sweet Spanish paprika and used the Hungarian variety instead. I also couldn’t find guajillo chilis at my local grocery store and used dried New Mexican chilis. The flavors were just perfect.

Gambas shrimp with garlic and paprika – an appetizer

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 dried guajillo or New Mexico chili
• 12 raw shrimp, deveined and peeled
• 1 1/4 teaspoons sweet Spanish paprika (Hungarian will do)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• Salt to taste
• Splash of white wine (optional)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• Rustic bread for serving

Directions:

Using scissors, cut the dried pepper into rings. Place in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the shrimp with the paprika and set aside.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium. Add the garlic and softened chili and cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Add the shrimp and any remaining paprika. Turn down heat if needs be to avoid burning the garlic. Cook until shrimp is pink, turning halfway, about 4 minutes.

Salt to taste. Add a glug of white wine and let it bubble away for a few seconds. Toss in the parsley.

Serve with toasted crusty bread. Or add 1/4 pound of cooked linguine to pan and toss till thoroughly coated. This makes an amazing light dinner.