SEAFOOD NACHOS

Appetizers|Gluten-free|Seafood|Tex-Mex

Ingredients

The Pico de Gallo:

3 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 cup pineapple, chopped

1 small sweet onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove, chopped

1 jalapeño, minced

⅓ cup cilantro, chopped

1 ½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon olive oil

Juice of one large lime

The Sriracha Crema:

¾ cup sour cream

½ cup Hellmann’s Light mayonnaise

2 tablespoon Sriracha sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

4 tablespoon milk

The Seafood:

4 tablespoon butter

6 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 pound shrimp (41/50), peeled and deveined

½ pound bay scallops (or sea scallops cut into smaller pieces)

1 cup lump crabmeat

4 ounce cream cheese

1, 4 ounce can chopped green chilies

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

The Nachos:

2, 12 ounce bags tortilla chips

3 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese or combination with pepper jack cheese

8 ounce Queso Blanco cheese, crumbled

The Garnish:

1 large avocado, chopped

3 scallions, chopped

¼ cilantro chopped

1 lime cut into wedges

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Combine all of the pico de gallo ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, and set aside for flavors to marry.

Whisk the sriracha crema ingredients together in a small bowl. Place in a squeeze bottle or small bowl and set aside until ready to plate.

To prepare the seafood, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat and sauté garlic until fragrant. Pat the shrimp and scallops dry with paper towels before cooking. Add the shrimp and scallops to the pan and cook until shrimp begins to turn pink and any moisture released is evaporated from the pan. Add the cream cheese, chilies, salt, pepper and garlic to the pan and cook until the cheese is melted and completely coats the seafood. Set aside.

Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and assemble half of the chips in an even layer. Top with 1 ½ cups of cheddar jack and half of the queso blanco, then ⅓ of the seafood mixture. Bake for 5-8 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven.

Layer the rest of the chips on top, followed by the rest of the seafood and the rest of the cheese (reserve 2 tablespoon of queso blanco for garnish). Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and chips and seafood are lightly browned.

Sprinkle with the pico de gallo, drizzle with crema, and garnish with avocado, scallions, cilantro, and remaining queso blanco cheese… DEVOUR!

Note – the parchment paper makes the nachos easy to transfer to a serving platter, but you can also just cover the cookie sheet with foil and serve on the tray.