Black Bean Pancakes with Garlic Shrimp in a Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce. An Easy Appetizer Recipe

Leftover creations aren't normally what spring to mind when composing an entertaining menu – and guests might just feel a little slighted if passed a 2-day old meatloaf platter!

This here is a recipe for a different sort of leftover meal – a meal with elegance and style – a meal you could serve at any table and at any time.

This is an appetizer that we serve in the restaurant. We make it start to finish from scratch in about 5 minutes, and everyone loves it!

Black Bean Pancakes with Garlic Shrimp in a Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce

A single serving

• ½ cup of leftover refried black beans. These beans should already be well seasoned with salt. These should be quite dry. If they are at all loose, heat them over medium until much of the liquid boils off. You need them dry so that with the addition of a small amount of flour you get a dough you can work with.
• ¼ cup of flour
• ½ of a small plum tomato, chopped.
• 2 Tbls of white onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 2 ounces of peeled shrimp. (You can use any size or variety of shrimp here. I prefer small sweet white shrimp for this dish. Smaller shrimp are cheaper anyway!
• ¼ cup of heavy (whipping) cream
• 2 Tbls of spicy tomato based sauce. (A spicy enchilada sauce or spicy smooth tomato salsa will work fine here)
• 1 Tbls of finely chopped green onions

Easy Steps

1. In a small bowl, mix together the beans, flour, tomatoes and onions. Stir until the mixture is well combined. Form it into a "burger" shaped patty, and dust with a little extra flour.
2. Heat a heavy frying pan over medium, and add in a couple of Tbls of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, gently slide in the black bean patty, and fry for about 3 minutes per side. Take the patty out and let drain on paper towels.
3. Discard all but about 1 spoonful of the oil, and add in the garlic, stirring.
4. Sprinkle your shrimp with a pinch of salt, and then add them quickly into the garlic oil. Stir for about 30 seconds.
5. Add in the cream and the spicy tomato sauce and bring to a boil.
6. Boil the tomato cream down until thickened (A little bit thicker than heavy cream) about 2 minutes.
7. On a serving plate, place the black bean pancake in the center and top the bean cake with the shrimp. Using a spoon, spoon the tomato cream in a circle around the bean cake. Garnish the shrimp by sprinkling the chopped green onions on top.