Ina Garten's Shrimp Cocktail Breaks Tradition (But Adds Way More Flavor)

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You can never go wrong with a classic shrimp cocktail, but straying from tradition leads to the tastiest discoveries. Ina Garten is known for perfecting classic recipes, often with a twist, and her take on shrimp cocktail makes us want to throw out the rulebook altogether. To give your next shrimp cocktail the Barefoot Contessa treatment, roast the crustaceans.

Straying from the routine of simmering shrimps until they're juicy before dunking them in peppery cocktail sauce sounds preposterous, but we promise that the diversion is well worth it. Roasting is a great method for crisping up food, but with only a quick visit to the oven, the shrimp will still be perfectly tender and juicy. Plus, the heat slightly caramelizes the shrimp, leaving them with a sweeter, richer flavor.

In her recipe for Roasted Shrimp Cocktail, which she shared in her 2008 cookbook "Back to Basics," and on her Barefoot Contessa website, Garten ensures the shrimp remains plump by roasting them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for only eight to 10 minutes. Medium to large-sized crustaceans make the most delicious shrimp cocktail, but if you opt for a smaller size, you may want to reduce the cooking time. Heat the shrimp until they're pink and fully cooked, then allow them to cool. While traditional shrimp cocktails may be served on ice, Garten prefers to eat hers while they're still warm or have come down to room temperature.

The water used to poach the crustaceans for a classic shrimp cocktail is usually infused with herbs and spices, but oven-roasting the ingredient allows you to flavor it in a more direct way. Garten keeps it simple with salt, pepper, and high-quality olive oil, but you can branch out to something bolder. After coating the shrimp in oil or butter, add a sprinkle of crushed thyme or rosemary, paprika, ground chili, and garlic or onion powder for an aromatic finish.

If you prefer the dish to be tangy, whip up some roasted shrimp with preserved lemons. The crustaceans are tossed in garlic confit and the preserved lemon before getting roasted, giving them an earthy, sweet taste that's lifted with an intensely citrusy taste, ideal for the piquant cocktail sauce. You can also whip some of the oil from the garlic confit into the cocktail sauce for a perfectly pungent flavor.

Rather than adding spices right before roasting, you can marinate the seafood ahead of time, just like you would do when grilling shrimp cocktail. Letting the shrimp sit in a mix of citrus zest, peppery olive oil, fresh herbs, and spices allows for the buttery ingredient to better take in all the flavors.