Bacon-wrapped shrimp is a relatively-easy appetizer that’s guaranteed to impress. There's more. Because they can be assembled 1-2 days before the party, this make-ahead hors d'oeuvre lowers the last-minute stress level considerably . The trick to making perfect bacon-wrapped shrimp, meaning, an opaque shrimp that is perfectly-cooked through with a layer of crispy bacon around it, is to partially-cook and cool the bacon before wrapping the raw shrimp. Why? Because it takes longer for bacon to cook to crispy perfection than for shrimp to cook to tender perfection.
The trick to perfect bacon-wrapped shrimp = precooked bacon.
1 pound bacon, preferably thick-sliced
2 pounds extra-jumbo (16-20 count) shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails-on (Note: Smaller or larger shrimp can compromise the outcome of this recipe.)
4-6 tablespoons dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon-1/2 teaspoon mustard per shrimp
your favorite barbecue sauce, chili sauce or any condiment-type sauce, for dipping, dunking or drizzling
~ Step 1. To precook the bacon, place the bacon, side by side, overlapping slightly, on a disposable aluminum broiler pan with a corrugated bottom. Roast on center rack of preheated 375 degree oven, about 12-14 minutes, until the bacon is just beginning to brown and is about half-cooked. Do not fully-cook the bacon! Transfer the bacon to a work surface that has been covered with 3-4 layers of paper towels. Let bacon cool completely. Using a chef's knife, cut the bacon strips into thirds. Discard the bacon drippings from the pan, but do not discard the pan, as it will be used to cook the shrimp.
~Step 2. To wrap the shrimp in bacon, place each shrimp on one piece of the bacon. Dollop about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard on top of each shrimp. Wrap the bacon around the shrimp and secure the top with a toothpick. As you wrap the shrimp, arrange them, side-by-side back on the pan as you work. I place three rows of about 10-12 shrimp on the pan.
~ Step 3. Bake the pan shrimp on center rack of preheated 375° oven, 15-18 minutes. Bacon will be golden and sizzling and shrimp will be opaque, plump, tender and succulent. Remove from oven and rest 1-2 minutes before serveing hot, warm or at room temperature (yes, they are great served at room temp) with your favorite sauce for dipping or drizzling.
Serve hot, warm or at room temp w/your condiment-sauce:
Dijon & Bacon-Wrapped Jumbo-Shrimp Appetizers: Recipe yields about 32-40 appetizers.
Special Equipment List: 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" x 1 1/4" disposable aluminum broiler pan w/corrugated bottom; paper towels; chef's knife; about 32-40 toothpicks
Cook's Note: How does shrimp sizing work? In a shrimp shell -- it doesn't. There is no industry standard for it. One vendor's medium, may be another vendor's extra-large and vice versa. This explains why many new-to-shrimp buying cooks are confused by these seven words: extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large, jumbo, colossal. When purchasing shrimp, the most important words to know aren't words, they are numbers. ~ Purchase Shrimp by their Count, Not by their Size ~.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2022)
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