roasted shrimp with fennel and potatoes

The beauty of this recipe is that you roast a complete meal — protein, starch, veggie — in one oven and at the end, you have only 2 baking sheets to clean. Plus your kitchen is all warmed up and smells amazing. Use long, skinny fingerling potatoes if you can find them; otherwise small Yukon golds will do. When buying fennel, look for fat, firm bulbs with most of the stalk trimmed off, since you are going to remove them anyway.

ingredients

Sea salt or kosher salt
3 large fennel bulbs, stalks removed, bulbs cored and thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds fingerling potatoes (or small Yukon golds)
1-1/2 pounds peeled raw shrimp
1 Meyer or regular lemon
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

directions

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Position racks so one is in the top third and one is in the middle. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine fennel and onion slices; sprinkle with a good pinch of salt. Drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil and toss well. Spread the vegetables on the lined baking sheet and put in the oven on top rack. Do not wash vegetable bowl.

Drop potatoes, whole and unpeeled, into the pot of water and boil until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, then cut each potato in half lengthwise. Put potatoes in bowl you used for vegetables and drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil to coat; sprinkle with salt and toss. Spread potatoes on an unlined baking sheet (they will get browner that way) and place on middle rack of oven. Again, do not wash bowl.

Roast until potatoes are golden brown, and fennel and onions are starting to caramelize on edges, about 40 minutes, stirring fennel mixture once halfway through and at the same time, turning potatoes over with tongs.

Meanwhile, put shrimp in a smaller bowl. Squeeze lemon over shrimp, then add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, a pinch of salt, and the red pepper flakes. Stir, then set aside.

When potatoes and vegetables are done, remove from oven; set potatoes aside on their baking sheet. Transfer fennel and onion to the large bowl. Spread shrimp on the same parchment paper the fennel cooked on and put in oven. Roast until shrimp are pink, about 5 minutes. Remove and gently lift parchment with shrimp and juices from pan and pour into bowl with fennel and onion; toss well. Spoon fennel-shrimp mixture onto warmed plates and nestle potatoes alongside. Serve immediately.