Summer garden bounty, while delicious, can become overwhelming during the last half of the summer. Just how many fresh tomato slices can you eat? And at what point do you friends and neighbors tell you they don’t have room for anymore fresh cucumbers? Ok, so maybe it doesn’t happen that often, but perhaps you are just looking for another use for those delicious and prolific vining vegetables. Look no further.
A summertime seafood sandwich that can be made quickly and easily is the perfect vehicle to use up some of that vege. Cherry or grape tomatoes work best in this sandwich since they have a relatively high flesh to seeds/liquid ratio, thin skins and a consistent quality. But if you have larger tomatoes, just seed them before large-dicing the tomatoes. The same goes for the cucumbers. They need to be peeled and seeded before dicing as well. Leaving the seeds and liquids intact with the cucumbers and larger tomatoes will just make the herbed mayo runny.
The size of shrimp we’ll use isn’t precise either since the cooked shrimp will be rough chopped before it’s combined with the mayo. Whatever shrimp you decide to use, it needs to be peeled, deveined and raw. These shrimp will get a short stay in a garlic and lemon marinade before cooking. And the cooking time will not exceed 2 minutes. Seafood cooked for longer than 2 minutes, but less than 20 minutes is tough and rubbery, but shrimp cook quickly in any event.
And just how will we be cooking these shrimp? They can either be grilled using a special gilling skillet which is skillet-shaped piece of metal with a bunch of holes punched through. These pans are perfect for grilling smaller vegetables or meat that might slip through the grates on a grill. Like any other pan, this needs to be preheated on the grill before adding the shrimp. Whether you choose to grill or pan fry these shrimp, the pan needs to be very hot. This marinade has a bit of oil, so you won’t need any extra in the pan, but you can use cooking spray in the pan on the stovetop so you aren’t heating an empty non-stick pan.
This sandwich is served in a top cut, or New England-style, hot dog roll. The roll should be buttered and lightly toasted, either on the grill or on a griddle. In either case, don’t forget this step.
Hot shrimp mixed with a cool, cucumber mayonnaise served in a toasted bun says Summer like nothing else. Give these a try the next time you have some extra tomatoes and cucumbers.
Shrimp Roll with Herbed Mayo
Herbed Mayo
- 1 cup real mayonnaise
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1 T. dried chives
- 1 T. dried tarragon
- 2 T. dried parsley
- 1 t. sugar
- 1/4 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
- kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until completely combined. Refrigerate for at least two hours before using.
Shrimp Marinade
- 2 pounds raw jumbo shrimp, or any size that is convenient
- 1 T. kosher salt
- 2 T. lemon juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- fresh ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients for the marinade, toss the shrimp to coat and set aside for 20 minutes. Heat your grill for 15 minutes on medium high flame. Place the grill pan in the center of grill and heat the pan for an additional two minutes. Grill shrimp, in batches if necessary, for 2 minutes total. The shrimp should just turn opaque. Do not overcook. Remove from the heat and roughly chop the shrimp. Alternately, pan fry shrimp in a very hot skillet, for 2 minutes, turning once. Remove from heat and rough chop.
Add the shrimp and all but a ¼ cup of the mayo to a large mixing bowl. Add ¾ cup quartered cherry or grape tomatoes and stir to combine.
Spoon one or two tablespoons of the mayo into each bun. Spoon in as much shrimp and mayo mixture as will fit then top each roll with a few tomato quarters.