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Shrimp & Gorgonzola Dip with Pancetta

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  • Author: Stacey
  • 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

Units Scale
  • 1/4 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)
  • 1/2 pint heavy cream (more if needed)
  • 1 clove garlic, finely diced
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley, optional
  • Olive oil, as needed to brush on bread
  • 12 crostini pieces (sliced French bread loaf)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or basil, oregano, sage)
  • salt & pepper, just a pinch here when cooking the shrimp

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Instructions

  1. Finely dice the shallot and garlic and set aside.
  2. Remove tails from the shrimp and peel and discard remaining shell. See pinch, pull, peel method in blog post.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. While pancetta, shallot and garlic are cooking give your shrimp a rough chop then add it to your pan and mix together.
  7. 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.
  8. While the dip is cooking you can chop the parsley (if using) and set it aside.
  9. 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.
  10. 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

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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. 
  4. If you’re using frozen shrimp, take shrimp from freezer the night before and let defrost overnight in the refrigerator. 
  5. You can substitute regular onion for the shallot.
  6. If you don’t have dried thyme for the crostini, you could use dried basil or oregano.
  7. 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!
  8. 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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Find it online: https://eatthebite.com/shrimp-gorgonzola-dip-with-pancetta/