serves 6 to 8

How can you possibly improve on shrimp cocktail? Since roasted chicken breast tastes so much better than poached chicken breast, I wondered if that wouldn't be true for roasted shrimp as well—and it was. The good news is you don't have to deal with those big pots of boiling water. A nice spicy cocktail sauce for dipping makes it even more delicious.

For the Shrimp
2 pounds (12 to 15 count) shrimp
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Sauce
1/2 cup Heinz chili sauce
1/2 cup Heinz ketchup
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place them on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread them in one layer. Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through. Set aside to cool.

For the sauce, combine the chili sauce, ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. Serve as a dip with the shrimp.


Shrimp are randomly called "large, "extra-large," and "jumbo." To be accurate, order shrimp by the count per pound.

Excerpted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. Copyright © 2008 by Ina Garten. All rights reserved.