Garides Tourkolimano Recipe: Jumpstart the Party with this Delicious Appetizer!
Garides Tourkolimano - A Yummy Appetizer or Main Dish!
If you’ve never heard of Garides Tourkolimano, you may just not be familiar with Greek cuisine. The name literally means “Greek Shrimp” and makes a great appetizer or main course.
Greek cuisine is all about preparing meals with fresh herbs and spices, and this recipe does not disappoint! Fresh basil, mint, and parsley are added to flavor the shrimp, which is also cooked with garlic, oregano and onions.
Not only is this dish easy to make, it’s also loaded with flavor. The tomato added in the recipe needs to be allowed to get soft so that you can taste it as you bite into the shrimp.
Garides Tourkolimano works great as an appetizer for a formal event, such as a wedding, but you can also make it for a main course!
Shrimp or Prawns?
While looking into the history of Garides Tourkolimano, I found that some recipes call for shrimp while others call for prawns. I immediately wondered which is best for this dish.
Turns out, the two seafood can be used interchangeably when cooking. They do differ in body structure a bit, but what’s more important when it comes to taste and texture is their own diets and habitats.
Garides Tourkolimano Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Large Shrimps, peeled and deveined
Salt and Pepper - 1 teaspoon dried Oregano
- 4 cloves of Garlic, finely minced
- 4 Green Onions/Scallions, sliced
- 1 large Tomato, diced
- ¼ cup fresh Mint, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh Basil, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh Parsley, chopped
- ½ cup Dry White Wine (we used Pinot Grigio)
- 8 oz. of Feta Cheese, coarsely crumbled
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Season the shrimp with salt, pepper and dried oregano.
Heat the olive oil in a wide pan, over medium high heat.
Add the shrimps and sauté them for a minute on each side, till they became opaque and pink. Keep aside.
In the same pan, lower the heat to medium, and add the minced garlic and sliced green onion. Sauté for couple of minutes till the garlic is fragrant and the green onion are soft.
Next add the fresh herbs – mint, basil and parsley.
Add the wine and return the sautéed shrimps to the pan.
Mix everything well and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes for the shrimps to absorb all the flavors.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the crumbled feta cheese.
Notes
For alcohol free option, substitute ½ cup of dry white wine with ½ cup of chicken broth.
If you like spicy food, add ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes when sautéing the garlic and green onion.
Check out our other recipes while you are here!
