Shrimp Scampi is a delicious meal worth the minimal effort. Once everything is prepped, it takes about 10 minutes to cook. How can you not want to devour this seafood dish? Its vibrant flavor invigorates your mood! Grab your shrimp and the pasta of your choice. Capture every bite of that delectable sauce in the nooks and crannies off a curly type pasta instead of a straight flat pasta. But honestly, my new favorite way to serve it is mixed with Alfredo and using basil chiffonade in place of chopped parsley (shown below).There’s so much of an enhanced flavor with basil! Then, mixed with the cheesy Alfredo, O.M.G.!!
Melt the butter into the oil.
Add in the garlic and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest and cook until fragrant.
Stir in the white wine(or broth) salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Reduce it by half on medium low heat. This should take no more than 4 minutes.
Sauté the shrimp, stirring continuously, on medium heat until just pink, about 2-4 minutes.
Squeeze in the lemon juice, lemon zest and chopped parsley (or basil chiffonade ). Stir to coat the shrimp evenly.
With basil, it looks like this:
Stir in the reserved pasta water and allow sauce to thicken slightly. Look at this sauce. Quick! Give me some crusty bread!
Normally, I use spaghetti or a thin linguine. However, all I found in the pantry was some Campanelle pasta. II thought this would be wonderful shape to catch the essence coating the shrimp. It turns out that this was a perfect choice! I really didn’t want to make another run to the grocery store on a Friday afternoon.
I love that daylight adds such a more realistic view of food . The picture above is from indoor lighting since it was made during the evening hours. Below, you can see the basil chiffonade and lemon zest within the Alfredo pasta presentation which exemplifies the Shrimp Scampi‘s outstanding flavors soon to be on your taste buds.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6 servings
- 2 T. butter
- 2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed
- lemon zest from one lemon, about 1 T., optional
- ½ c. dry white wine or seafood broth
- ½ t. Kosher salt
- ½ t. red pepper flakes, more if desired
- ½ t. black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 to 1-1/2 pounds large shrimp shelled, tails left on, if desired
- ½ lemon, juiced (1 T. )
- ¼ c. freshly chopped parsley or basil( highly recommended )
- ½ c. reserved pasta water
- 1 pound pasta(use about ¾ of it and save the rest) OR stirred in some Alfredo...YUM!
- Prep all ingredients before beginning the cooking process.
- Melt butter in medium skillet with olive oil.
- Add 4 cloves of pressed garlic; stir until aromatic.
- Whisk in the wine(broth), salt, red pepper flakes and pepper; cook until reduced by one half, about 4 minutes on medium-low heat.
- Add in the shrimp, stirring constantly, and saute until pink, 2-4 minutes.
- Add about ½ cup of the pasta water BEFORE draining pasta. Stir. It should thicken a little.
- Squeeze in the lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped parsley/basil and lemon zest. Stir in the reserved pasta water and allow sauce to slightly thicken before serving.
- Serve over pasta or mix with alfredo, with crusty bread or both! Yum!
