Recipe

Step 1: Remove the heads from the shrimp, leaving the shells and tails intact. Split open down the back to butterfly them, then devein. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle some salt on the cut side of each shrimp.

Step 2: In a mortar, crush the pink and black peppercorns with a pestle to break up roughly. Each should be smashed, some smaller than others.

Step 3: Pour 2-1/2 tbsp of the olive oil into an ovenproof dish large enough to take the shrimp in a single layer. Scatter the breadcrumbs over the bottom, then add the shrimp. Scatter the crushed pepper over the shrimp. Turn each one over, wiping them in the oil and breadcrumbs, then turn cut side up again and leave for half an hour or so.

Step 4: Preheat the broiler to hot. Drizzle the remaining oil over the shrimp and broil them until opaque and a bit golden here and there, but not dried out, about 10 minutes. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.

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Reprinted with permission from Tessa Kiros’s Recipes and Dreams from an Italian Life (2013 Appetite by Random House).