fried polenta cakes, prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, and a hazelnut liquor sauce make up this intriguing dish! It is equally stunning to look at as it is to eat.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup polenta
- 6 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 large shrimp – peeled and deveined
- 1 ½ cups finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
- 6 (1/2 ounce) slices prosciutto
- 2 fluid ounces hazelnut liqueur
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 4 green onions, with tops flared
Instructions
- In a medium-size pot bring water to a boil. Add butter, salt, and pepper. Mix in dry polenta and let cook until thickened, approximately 8 minutes.
- When the polenta has thickened, gently blend mascarpone cheese into it. Remove the pan from heat. Spread polenta-cheese mixture to a 2-inch thickness on an oil-coated surface. When cool, cut a disk using a drinking glass as a cutter. Saute polenta disks in olive oil, in a non-stick skillet. Set aside. (Can be prepared in advance).
- Coat shrimp with hazelnuts and wrap each with a slice of ham. In a skillet, saute shrimp carefully in remaining olive oil. Remove shrimp from the pan and keep them warm.
- Pour hazelnut liquor into another skillet (or the same skillet used to saute the shrimp, cleaned). When hazelnut flavored liquor is hot (but well under the boiling point), carefully flambe (by touching the edge of the pan with the flame of a match or taper). Be careful and stand back when cooking with open flame! When flames die down, add cream and remaining hazelnuts. Lower heat and continue cooking until mixture thickens.
- To assemble, place a polenta disk in the center of a serving dish. Arrange shrimp around the plate. Drizzle sauce mixture on top. Garnish with green onions.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 604 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 21 g |
| Cholesterol | 99 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Sodium | 447 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 52 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This was a great appetizer! I did it without the polenta and my guests loved it! Check out the picture.
Excellent! I couldn’t find mascarpone and used some cream cheese and really liked the lightness and different texture it gave the polenta. Otherwise I followed the directions exactly except my nuts were thrown out before I was able to get them into the sauce at the end. This was disappointing but they weren’t missed. When I first tried the sauce I hated it. It seemed way too sweet to belong with this dish so I used more cream to mellow out the hazelnut taste. Whether I had done that or not, I don’t think it mattered in the end. The flavors of sweet and savory melded together perfectly and just a drizzle of the sauce was perfect. The dish also presents beautifully and was a huge hit.
I can’t say enough about this dish!!!! I cook a lot and often enjoy the things I make but rarely do I step back and think, “wow, did I make that?” This will become a family favorite for me. I live in Alaska just a little outside of of Anchorage, so sometimes I have to substitute because ingredients arn’t avaliable. But, even with the substitutes it was great. I couldn’t find hazelnuts on thier own so I got the mixed nutz from planters that had hazelnuts. I figured the liqure would set the taste, you needs the nuts for texture and buttery flavor. Second I bought polenta already made in a tube form. I sliced it and sprayed with oilve oil then stuck it under the broiler for about 10 to 15 mins. Once they where hot and a little crisp I flipped them and put a dolp of cream cheese on top. I couldn’t get marscapone…this was my other substitute:) I placed the pollenta back under the broiler and cooked it till the cheese browned. I found this made the presentation great. I served the with greem beans for a veggie, it went well. Enjoy!!!!
Overall this was good, although I think it called for way too many nuts in the sauce. I’d use about half of what the recipe calls for. I bought the biggest shrimp I could find and the servings were still pretty small at 1 per person, so I’d suggest making double the shrimp. I also used packaged polenta, so I can’t comment on that recipe but the sauce and shrimp were good.
OK – the polenta was a 5, the sauce was a 5, but I did not like the nut and shrimp combo. I am typically very adventurous when it comes to seafood, it just didn’t do it for me. I will make the sauce again, just not to put over shrimp.
Incredibly delicious! The sauce is beyond words. I made the polenta earlier in the day to make assembling the dish quicker. The only problem I had was getting the hazelnuts to stick to the shrimp.
Instead of pouring out the polenta on an oiled plate, I washed out an ordinary can, poured the polenta inside, and plastic wrapped the top. The can went in the fridge so the polenta would set. Once set, the polenta slid out of the can easily and all I had to do was slice it. I also like to batter the polenta a bit, so it’s crusty and savory when it’s pan fried. The extra texture really plays well with the shrimp and sauce. Great recipe!
Holy this was delicious. Shrimp, prosciutto, mascarpone, HEAVY CREAM??? How can you go wrong? Y-U-M.
I made this recipe as a first course for Christmas dinner. I had 16 adult guests and everyone loved it! I was so surprised to see even the “picky” eaters devouring the whole thing. The flavors all blended together so deliciously. I used Christmas cookie cutters to cut the polenta, which gave it a festive appeal. Thank you so much. I will definitely be using this recipe again.