Shrimp Braised Lettuce Rolls

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Clean and rinse lettuce and pull apart leaves. Have a separate bowl of ice water ready to shock the lettuce. Once the water is boiling, work in batches and blanch the lettuce leaves for a few seconds in the boiling water. After just a few seconds immediately pull the leaves out of the boiling water and shock the lettuce in the ice bath. Then transfer the leaves with a slotted spoon to a sheet pan and drain on paper towels. Lay the leaves out so they drain spread out on the sheet pan.

In a pan over medium heat the olive oil. Salt and pepper the shrimp. Add the shrimp into the pan and cook for one minute, stirring to toss them in the olive oil for flavor. Remove shrimp from the pan with a slotted spoon and set the shrimp on a cutting board. Chop shrimp into bite sized pieces.

Meanwhile add the 4 strips of chopped bacon to the pan and cook until slightly crispy. Add shallot and garlic to the pan and cook until tender, 1 minute. Set aside.

In a separate bowl add the cubed bread and eggs and toss together with chopped parsley. Salt and pepper bread mixture. Once the bacon is cooked, remove bacon, garlic and shallots with a slotted spoon and add it to the bread mixture. Toss together until combined. Reserve bacon fat. If the bread mixture is too dry use the bacon fat to wet it a bit. I ended up only using 1 tablespoon of fat. Add the reserved shrimp to this bread and bacon mixture and combine until it’s evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

In a separate large pot over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon fat. Add carrots, onion, celery and crushed garlic. Stir for 2 minutes just until fragrant and tender. Add enough water into the pot until it’s just barely covering the veggies. Add the bacon strip into the water. Bring to a slow simmer.

One by one take the lettuce and place 2 tablespoons of shrimp mixture in the middle. Roll up the lettuce like a burrito, tuck in the sides and place them seam side down carefully on top of the veggie mixture in the pot. The rolls should not be fully submerged in water but just barely in there so it can braise and steam in the liquid. Repeat until all the rolls are placed in the pot. Cover the pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes until rolls feel firm and the shrimp is cooked through. Remove rolls to a sheet tray and cover with foil to keep warm.

Strain out the veggies and bacon and set them aside. Keep the liquid in the pan over medium high heat. Cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add in cherry tomatoes and cook until just barely tender, 2 minutes. Combine cornstarch and water in a separate bowl and whisk until it forms a slurry. Add this into the tomato sauce and whisk together until sauce is thickened. Season to taste.

Plate the shrimp rolls and top them with the cherry tomatoes and sauce. Garnish with chopped basil.