One of my husband’s favorite places on earth is Spain. Barcelona specifically, and maybe even more than his love for the city is his love for the food. So even though Pete could spend hours talking about how much and why he loves Spain, I have never been there with him. But I have been.

Have I ever told you about the time I backpacked through Europe when I was 20 years old? One of the stops was Barcelona. I stayed in a hostel and got fleas. I also was allergic to something there and my face swelled up like a balloon and leaked mucus every minute of every day that I was there. So I am not so sure about it. I think I need a re-do.

The food however, I am down with. One dish I remember having (um, somehow I went out in public with a swollen head and fleas?) was a shrimp dish in a skillet with red pepper sauce and peas. Now I can’t remember specifics- this was a solid 15 years ago and I had head sweeling- but I remember the flavors.

When I saw Argentinian red shrimp at the grocery store, I randomly thought I would make pizza. And by the way, normally the thought of seafood pizza would make me gag, but then I tried to think of a way that made me excited instead, and the Spanish flavors came to mind.

The garlicky red pepper sauce is what makes the pizza. It is slightly sweet and spicy and tangy, and topped with those beautiful juicy red shrimp. Fresh green peas and the slightest sprinkling of feta cheese top it off. And the goodnews is that the feta really just adds salt and not a whole weird shrimp+cheese thing. Over all- it turned out to be absolutely amazing.

I had taste testers on premises, and that was their favorite dish I made that day. If you want to make a Spanish Shrimp Pizza, this is what you do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare a sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil.

If you are using regular pizza dough, then stretch it out into a large oval and fold the edges over to create a crust. If you are using the gluten free pizza crust, than follow the directions in this recipe for preparing the crust.

Drizzle the crust with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and par-bake the crust for 10-12 minutes until it is golden and firm.

While the crust is baking, make the Red Pepper Sauce:
In the bowl of a food processor or jar of a blender, combine all of the ingredients and puree until you have a thick well combined sauce. Season to taste with kosher salt.

When the crust is finished, spread the sauce liberally over the crust.
Then add the shrimp, peas and sprinkle the feta cheese over the pizza. Sprinkle with the smoked paprika and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake the pizza for another 8-10 minutes until the shrimp are cooked through and the crust is golden. Slice and serve immediately.