Transform Shrimp And Grits By Making The Dish Italian-Style

A traditionally Southern dish, shrimp and grits is found on menus all over the country, usually as a breakfast or brunch item. If you're a fan of shrimp and grits as a whole but are looking for a new spin on the cornmeal-and-shellfish combination, it might be time to put an Italian twist on the dish by bathing the shrimp in garlic and chili flakes and swapping cheesy Southern grits for Italian-style polenta. Sometimes shrimp and grits can include bacon, as it can tend to be a breakfast food, but for an Italian version we suggest leaving the bacon out entirely and letting the shrimp and polenta shine on their own.

Polenta is a traditionally Northern Italian dish that can be served on its own, as a base for other foods, or sometimes sliced and fried. Although they're both corn products, there is a difference between grits and polenta. When making the polenta, consider using vegetable, chicken, or seafood stock instead of plain water to bring extra flavor to the creamy ground corn. While grits tend to lean on cheddar cheese for extra decadence, make the swap to Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano for Italian-style polenta. Once the polenta has finished cooking and has reached your desired texture and consistency, stir in a few tablespoons of grated parmesan along with a tablespoon or two of butter until everything has melted together and become homogeneous.

To make the shrimp taste more Italian, cook them in lots of garlic and spicy red pepper flakes, preferably Calabrian chili flakes if you can find them. Our garlic butter shrimp recipe is a perfect place to start, and you can always jazz it up with even more Italian-leaning spices. A few dashes of a general Italian seasoning blend would be a great addition, but if you don't have that on hand, a mix of dried oregano and dried basil would do the trick. If you're looking for saucier shrimp, take inspiration from our recipe for garlic shrimp pasta with tomato sauce, omitting the pasta, of course. A bit of extra tomato sauce spooned over the polenta alongside the shrimp will have you feeling like you're sitting in a cozy corner of a trattoria in northern Italy. The spiciness of the chili flakes and savory notes from the garlic give the shrimp a perfect contrast to the creamy, rich polenta.

As with most great Italian dishes, be sure to finish off your dish with freshly grated parmesan and a few leaves of basil torn by hand. Rather than topping with chives or scallions as you might with shrimp and grits, the fresh basil is a perfect swap to make the dish feel more Italian. If you're craving a bit more luxury in the dish, feel free to drizzle a bit of extra virgin Italian olive oil on top for a bit more fat and the sharpness of the pressed olives.