I used to go to the same restaurant on my birthday every year and order the same appetizer. Shrimp and gorgonzola dip with pancetta bacon served with herbed crostini. I'd drink martinis, which I never do, and eat this appetizer. All of it. Every. Last. Crumb. And when I ran out of the crostini they would bring me their house-made, warm bread which was equally as delicious. While this warm shrimp & gorgonzola dip was designed to be shared by a few people, I always made it my main course. It's so addicting!
Recreating Warm Shrimp & Gorgonzola Dip for the home chef
I always wondered how they made it, so I started with making a list of the ingredients I knew (or guessed) were in it and filled in the blanks with the rest. The restaurant only operated in the summer months and I knew I needed more access than that. 🙂
I wanted to recreate this one because it's one of those food memories that stuck with me over the years. Especially as time keeps passing and I don't even live in that place anymore. The food memory became even more important. Do you have food memories like this? Tell me about them in the comments below.
I tinkered with this recipe quite a bit and landed on this delicious copy-cat. This appetizer works great with herbed crostini, but it can also work with a warm crusty bread like a French loaf for dipping. This appetizer works great for any small gathering And if there is (unlikely) you can easily reheat this and have it for a snack the next day.
Tips for Warm Shrimp & Gorgonzola Dip
This is a one-pan appetizer that is also make-ahead friendly. A few tips to keep in mind:
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- Pancetta can get expensive. You can substitute with bacon. Just chop up about 4-5 slices of raw bacon and cook the same way you would cook the pancetta. Make sure to drain most of that fat, but leave a little.
- The crostini should be made with the smaller French loaf you find in the bakery section of your local grocery store (see pic below).
- This appetizer is make-ahead friendly. You can make it the day before and reheat in a pan or in the the microwave the next day. No one will ever know.
How to Peel Shrimp: Pinch, Pull, Peel Method
If you don't work with shrimp too much - no worries. It's best to make sure you buy deveined shrimp as a general rule. If you're buying it fresh, get it the day of or day before you make this. If you're buying frozen shrimp, let the bag defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
An easy way to remember how to peel the shrimp: pinch, pull, peel.
- When you remove the shrimp tail do it with care. You'll want to gently pinch the tail at the furthest end. You'll be able to feel that little bit of meat in the tail and we want to keep that.
- Adjust your pinch grip and pull the tail gently off the shrimp while also leaving that tail meat intact.
- The rest of the process is very simple. The remaining shell is very easy to peel off from there.
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Shrimp & Gorgonzola Dip with Pancetta
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 crostinis 1x
Description
Looking to wow your friends and family with a unique appetizer? If so, you're going to love this warm shrimp & gorgonzola dip with herbed crostini.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup diced shallot or onion
- 6 ounces gorgonzola cheese (one small container)
- 2 ounces diced pancetta bacon, or regular bacon (see notes 1 & 3)
- 10 large deveined and peeled shrimp (large 26-30 size)
- ½ pint heavy cream (more if needed)
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- ¼ cup chopped parsley, optional
- Olive oil, as needed to brush on bread
- 12 crostini pieces (sliced French bread loaf)
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme (or basil, oregano, sage)
- salt & pepper, just a pinch here when cooking the shrimp
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Instructions
- Finely dice the shallot and garlic and set aside.
- Remove tails from the shrimp and peel and discard remaining shell. See pinch, pull, peel method in blog post.
- In one pan, add your shrimp and a small drizzle of olive oil (maybe one teaspoon or so) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook shrimp on low to medium heat. They need approximately 2-3 minutes on each side. They’re done when they turn pink and shrink a bit.
- In another pan, cook the pancetta (or bacon it you're using that instead) on low to medium heat until it gets crispy. About 5-7 minutes. There is a lot of fat and you’ll need to pour the excess into a small bowl. Be careful it's very hot.
- After the pancetta is cooked and you’ve drained the excess fat (leave a tiny bit in the pan), add the shallots and garlic and stir to combine the ingredients. Cook 2-3 minutes until onions are soft - careful not to burn the garlic. If your pan is a little dry, just add back a little of the fat you set aside.
- While pancetta, shallot and garlic are cooking give your shrimp a rough chop then add it to your pan and mix together.
- Add the gorgonzola cheese and heavy cream to the pan and give it a stir. Then cover, still on low heat for a few minutes minutes or so until it's melty and thick. Some chunks of gorgonzola are fine.
- While the dip is cooking you can chop the parsley (if using) and set it aside.
- Slice the French bread into 12 thin pieces. Lay out your bread on a toaster oven pan and brush with olive oil. Lightly sprinkle a little dried thyme (or basil, oregano, sage) on top of your crostini. Broil in your toaster oven for a few minutes until the bread is nicely toasted. Keep your eye on this so it doesn’t burn.
- Best way to serve this is put the dip in a serving dish, add a bit of the parsley and give it a stir. Spread the crostini around the dip. Use remaining parsley to sprinkle on top of dip. Should be served immediately.
Equipment
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Mini Appetizer Forks (stainless steel)
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Serving Bowls-Colorful Patterns (set of 4)
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T-fal Non-Stick Pans (set of 3)
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- Pancetta is a bit expensive so if you don’t want to spend the money you can substitute with 4-5 strips of regular bacon. Dice the raw bacon into small pieces and cook the same way in a pan. Don't forget to drain most of that fat.
- Gorgonzola is typically sold in small containers near where the goat cheese and feta cheese are sold in grocery stores. The containers seem to come in 6 ounce portions which is why I presented this ingredient in ounces instead of cups.
- Pancetta is much saltier than bacon so keep this in mind. I bought a 5-ounce package and used just 2-2 ½ ounces or about half the small package. You could use the additional pancetta on top of a salad, add to homemade bread crumbs, or mac & cheese to name a few ideas.
- If you’re using frozen shrimp, take shrimp from freezer the night before and let defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
- You can substitute regular onion for the shallot.
- If you don’t have dried thyme for the crostini, you could use dried basil or oregano.
- The shrimp bag said "large, raw shrimp, deveined 26-30." If you want more shrimp than I used - you can certainly add a few more shrimp!
- For the French baguette, you'll want then thinner version at your local supermarket bakery section. See picture comparison in blog post.
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