Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Skewers

Summer eats series by @agsinspace

It’s grilling season… and for the next few months all I’m doing is working that BBQ and pairing my creations with fresh salads. BBVG has the absolute freshest local produce around and I take my salads seriously.

This week, I’ve prepared bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers served on top of garlic-butter-and-herb wild rice with a salad of watermelon, cucumber and feta. Served with a creamy side of homemade tzatziki, this was a winner for my family. And, oh, so fresh! My shrimp skewer recipe is below… for my delicious watermelon salad recipe, visit me on @agsinspace on Instagram.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Skewers

Ingredients
32 large thawed (from frozen) shrimp – uncooked and peel on (makes four portions of 8 shrimp)
1 pack of smoked bacon, pancetta or prosciutto (make sure your bacon if raw is very thin)
1 lemon – juice and zest
3 tbsp good olive oil
4 cloves garlic – crushed
1/3 cup parsley
4 large metal skewers
Salt and pepper to taste

  • Marinade thawed or fresh shrimp in mix of oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, crushed garlic and parsley for a minimum 30 minutes prior to cooking (or overnight).
  • When ready to cook, turn BBQ on to high heat. Thread bacon onto skewer and follow by shrimp, then bacon, shrimp etc. You’re essentially creating little pockets of bacon for the shrimp to sit in order to protect them from the high heat of the BBQ. You’ll need two pieces of standard sized bacon and eight shrimp for each long metal skewer.
  • Grill on direct heat for 2 minutes a side until shrimp is nice and pink. Your bacon may not be crisp (depending on what kind you’re using) but don’t wait for it to be done as the shrimp is really the star! If you want crisp bacon, I suggest precooking it slightly in the oven prior to threading so that you’re finishing it along with the shrimp on the BBQ.

Tzatziki

Ingredients
1 cup Greek or Balkan yogurt (plain)
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp fresh mint chopped
2 tbsp fresh dill chopped
2 cloves garlic – crushed
½ English cucumber grated
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

  • Grate cucumber. Place onto paper towel and fold over. Squeeze with your hands to extract as much “water” as possible. Then mix all ingredients together in small bowl. Allow flavours to set by sitting in fridge for 30 minutes prior to serving.