This was one of the hors d’oeuvres that I made for my 100th Post Party.  I love shrimp salad and this was my first time serving it in endive leaves (also called endive spears or endive boats).  The crunchiness of the endive paired really well with the creaminess of the shrimp salad.  It was also easy for my guests to eat and it looked very elegant.  Another option is to serve this shrimp salad in wonton cups.  I had excess shrimp salad so I made some wonton cups for that (recipe below).

Shrimp Salad on Endive Leaves Recipe

2 heads Belgian endive

3/4 lb large uncooked shrimp, deveined

1/4 cup + 1/8 cup mayonnaise (I prefer the brand Hellmann’s)

1/4 cup + 1/8 cup English cucumber, remove the seed centre and then dice finely (optional)

1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp dill + sprigs for garnish

coarse salt and black pepper

If you’re using frozen, uncooked shrimp, defrost them first.  Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add the shrimp in their shells and cook until they turn pink.  Then turn the heat off and let them sit in the hot water for one minute.  Drain and cool. Then peel and cut the shrimp into small pieces.

Mix together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, lemon zest, dill, and pinches of salt and pepper to taste.  Then gently mix in the shrimp and cucumber (if using).  Just before serving, cut off the base of the endive heads and separate the leaves.  Fill the large end of each leaf with the shrimp salad, arrange on a platter and garnish with sprigs of dill.  Serve chilled.

Wonton Cups Recipe

For wonton cups, you can have two different looks: one where you use the square wonton wrappers as they are and another where you use a round cookie cutter to make the wonton wrappers round.  Both look good but I find that French inspired fillings or creamy fillings (ie. goat cheese or cream cheese filling) look better in the round wonton cups whereas meaty fillings or salads (ie. shrimp salad or tartare) look better in the square wonton cups.

Put wonton wrappers into a dark coloured, non stick mini muffin tray (one wrapper per cup).  Note that there is no need to brush the wrappers with oil.  Bake at 350 F for 7 to 9 minutes.  Wonton cups will be lightly golden in colour and crunchy.  Cool on a rack and then spoon in your filling of choice.  For the fillings I like to use crab meat salad, shrimp salad, tuna tartare, etc.