Fried shrimps with spicy tomato and hazelnuts pesto

A delicious recipe to cook and serve it as a first dish among other sea food dishes or as a meze dish. Various sea food dishes are popular in Greece any time of the year but during the Summer months they become even more popular when people gather together next to the sea to enjoy the breeze with a glass of ouzo or wine

Recipe of Chryssanthos Karamolegos,
a prominent Head Cook
from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4 people)

For the shrimps:
1Kg of medium-size shrimps
3 tbsp of olive oil

For the pesto:
1 large ripe tomato, cut in chunks
25gr. of hazelnuts
1 small chilli pepper (seedless)
1 small yellow onion, cut in chunks
½ clove of garlic
3 tbsp of sweet paprika
1 tbsp of olive oil

Method:
Put all the ingredients of the pesto in a blender and whiz until you have a rather coarse mixture. Transfer into a bowl and leave in the fridge until you will need it.

Warm the oil in medium heat in a non-stick frying pan and gently fry the shrimps until they change colour. Don't over cook them! Transfer with a slotted spoon on kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.

While they are still warm serve on a platter along with the hazelnuts pesto and toasted bread slices.