Potted Shrimps

Name: Potted Shrimps
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 6 min
Yield: Serves to serve 4
Ingredients: 8 oz fresh or frozen shelled shrimps; 4 oz butter; salt; cayenne pepper; ¼ teaspoon ground mace; ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Ready in 6 mins + waiting

Recipe by Graham

Sounds complicated? Not at all ! This is probably the easiest seafood you will ever prepare. It looks and tastes wonderful and will impress your guests no end. Served with a little smoked salmon this simple dish makes a perfect starter when entertaining on a summer's evening.

Potted shrimps are a traditional Lancashire dish. It is traditionally eaten with bread, while the butter acts as a preservative. Potted shrimp was a favourite dish of Ian Fleming who passed on his predilection for the delicacy to his famous fictional creation James Bond. Fleming reputedly used to eat the dish at Scotts Restaurant on Mount Street in London where it is still served to this day.

Preparation Time

3 Minutes + waiting

Cooking Time

3 Minutes

Ingredients for Potted Shrimps

If you are not familiar with any ingredients, please check our International Cooking Terms page.

Currently displaying quantities in US Imperial Measurements

To serve 4:

8 oz fresh or frozen shelled shrimps
4 oz butter
salt
cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon ground mace
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

How to Cook Potted Shrimps

If frozen, allow the shrimps to defrost, then blot dry on absorbent kitchen tissue. Place about two-thirds of the butter into a small pan and add all the spices and salt to taste. Add the shrimps and heat very gently for a few minutes (do not allow the butter to brown). Divide the mixture between four cocotte or ramekin dishes (small glazed dishes usually about 3½" in diameter by 1½" deep) and pack the prawns down tightly. Chill until set.
Heat the remaining butter until it has just melted, then pour it evenly over the shrimp mixture so that it forms an airtight seal. Cover and keep in the refrigerator for at least a day to help develop the flavour. Garnish each dish with a slice or twist of lemon and serve with hot whole-wheat toast.

GRAHAM'S HOT TIP:
If you do not have small ramekin dishes, you can put the whole mixture into a larger glazed dish and serve it from the centre of the table. The taste is just as good!