How to Cook Škampi na Buzaru – A Croatian Favourite

by croatiaweek
July 3, 2015
in Food & Wine

When we recently published ‘Don’t leave Croatia until you taste these 9 dishes’ – a number of dishes, in fact enough for another 3 or 4 lists, were not included. Croatia has so much to offer in the cuisine department that it is hard to capture everything in one list.

One dish that could easily walk onto most lists is another coastal specialty – Scampi in garlic, tomato and white wine sugo (Škampi na buzaru). A great meal if you’re not trying to impress your dinner date with your table manners, as it can be messy to eat if you really want to enjoy the full benefits of the dish.

For that reason eating it at home can be very enjoyable and that is why we bring you the recipe to try.

Again simple Mediterranean ingredients are required so you will need some scampi of course, onions, garlic, parsley, white wine, tomato puree, tomato concentrate paste, olive oil, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.

Prep:

What you need to do first is clean the scampi, keep the shells on but do cut along the underside to remove the small vein that is inside
Next finely chop onions and fry in olive oil in a pan. When they go golden add the garlic
Once they start to release the smells add half a cup of tomato puree, a teaspoon of tomato concentrate paste, a cup of white wine and half a cup of water
Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste then cover and let cook on a low heat for 20 minutes
In another pan heat up some olive oil on high heat
Add 2-3 garlic cloves
Add scampi into the pan – no need to salt as they have natural sea salt
After a couple of minutes frying add the scampi into the dish with the sauce cooking
Add a bit more olive oil
To bind the sauce and give it thickness add 1-2 teaspoons of breadcrumbs to the sauce
Scampi cook fast so be careful you do not over cook them
Add parsley at the end
photo credit: konoba barba ive

Serve and enjoy.