The holidays are upon us. Friends and family will be gathering to celebrate the season, and some of that may be happening in your home. If so, you may be starting to think about what sorts of festive treats to serve up for the holidays this year. I’ve taken my favorite shrimp taco recipe and used it as inspiration to create a delicious red and green holiday appetizer using Puff Pastry. Let’s make Margarita Shrimp Bites!
Ingredients needed:
shrimp lime tequila sugar sour cream chipotle chile in adobo sauce ground cumin salt bell peppers Puff Pastry egg fresh cilantro
How to make Margarita Shrimp Bites:
Marinate shrimp with lime juice, lime zest, sugar, and tequila. Mix up the southwestern sauce: sour cream mixed with chopped chipotle chile/sauce, cumin, lime juice and salt.
Defrost a Puff Pastry sheet and roll out into an even square. Cut into 16 equal squares. Assemble the appetizers. Place one shrimp and one piece each of red and green bell pepper on top of each Puff Pastry square. Fasten corners together diagonally and seal with a fork and a bit of water. Brush with egg wash when ready to bake.
Bake them for 15 to 20 minutes, and they’ll come out golden brown and ready for eating.
But first, they need a drizzle of Southwestern Sauce. A single leaf of cilantro tops each bite.
Make Ahead Tip:
These appetizers can be prepared ahead. Place them all on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap before brushing with egg wash. Refrigerate several hours (or overnight) until ready to bake. When you’re ready to bake these up and serve them, brush each bite with a swish of egg wash and then bake.
I served up a whole bunch of these at a party we hosted. I baked two trays at a time and as soon as I took them out of the oven, I had people hovering over me with interest at what gourmet appetizer I was plating. 32 appetizers were gone in literally 32 seconds as I passed them around. Our guests loved them, noting that the sauce was perfect to top the Puff Pastry-wrapped shrimp. These are good any time of year, but they’re especially festive for the holidays with the green and red bell pepper. Make them for your guests and watch them disappear. Enjoy!
