Great for an everyday dinner since its quick but with it being a homemade pasta dish, it can easily stand up for a special occasion such as Valentine's Day, perhaps!
Cold weather is always calling us for comfort food that is easy to digest and familiar for our taste buds. Quick and really easy to make with the most quality ingredients, that's what we love about comfort food.
My Classic Shrimp Scampi sautéed in olive oil and garlic finished with a healthy dose of grass-fed butter and white wine! Simple seasonings with a little touch of red pepper flakes and zested fresh garlic will bring your favorite restaurant staple dish to the next level.
WHAT IS SHRIMP SCAMPI?
Shrimp Scampi is an amazing American-Italian dish. It calls for shrimp or prawns cooked and generously smothered in a buttery and garlicky sauce. Finishing with white wine and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The flavors come together in a minute or so and produce a restaurant-quality dinner from the comfort of your home, making the perfect in-house date night dinner.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Don’t overcook the shrimp or it will taste rubbery and dry. Cook the shrimp just until both sides are pink in color. Choose fresh if you can, but frozen works just fine.
HOW TO INCORPORATE MORE FLAVOR IN SHRIMP SCAMPI?
Use only freshly squeezed lemon juice!
Use good quality butter (nice yellow grass-fed butter)!
Add red pepper flakes more or less up to you!
Zest fresh garlic over the dish towards the end of the cooking process!
ON WINE FOR THIS DISH
Please, use your favorite dry white wine, the one you enjoy drinking, but may I also suggest using a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Chardonnay.
Generally speaking, wine doesn't have to be expensive. What I do recommend is that you should never use any wine labeled as “cooking wine” for this dish or really anything you make with love for your family or friends!
WHAT ABOUT SHRIMP?
Shrimp, without question is one of the most consumed types of seafood in the United States but also the most highly traded seafood in the world. This high demand has led to many environmental and human rights abuses in fishing, farming and in processing of the shrimp. Here is an interesting fact: twenty-five percent of the seafood consumption in the United States is shrimp, and the average American consumes four pounds of shrimp every year. That may be because we consider it to be a healthy form of protein that’s low in calories. But this statement is only true for fresh wild shrimp, because farm seafood has proven to be unhealthy and toxic, making it among the worst foods to consume. Please take a minute and read this study published by the National Library of Medicine in 2011.
FRESH OR FROZEN?
It's up to you to use either fresh or frozen, but it is important to know from where the shrimp was acquired. Wild caught is my choice, free from antibiotics or other any toxic chemicals. Everything that comes frozen from China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, etc., I encourage you to avoid it.
HOW TO THAW SHRIMP?
To thaw frozen shrimp, take them out of the bag and place in a bowl under cold running water. They will be good in 10-15 minutes or place them in a bowl of cold water and let them rest until they are completely defrosted. Then dry shrimp on paper towels before using in a recipe.
What Type of Pasta Is Good with Shrimp Scampi?
Any pasta you wish can used for a shrimp scampi but there are some traditional pastas that have been used in this dish since it came to US during WW2. However, anything from Angel Hair Pasta, Vermicelli, Penne and Linguine will work.
If you are looking to serve this dish as a special date-night, consider using a fresh pasta, and that's what I used in my video. Fresh pasta can be purchased in most supermarkets in the US and are found in the refrigerator section or make your own by following my recipe Here, which I used in my video.
MORE SHRIMP RECIPES
Let's do it...
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Author: Inna of innichkachef.com
Serves: 2 - 4 portions
Ingredients
1-pound uncooked linguine (I used homemade fresh pasta)
1 &1/2-pounds of medium shrimp peeled and deveined
4 Tablespoons grass-fed butter
2 Tablespoons of olive oil (plus little more for drizzling over the final dish)
1/2 cup of dry white wine
5 cloves garlic (slice 4 cloves in the initially cooking process and reserve one clove to zest at the end of the cooking)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (plus more for garnish)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
On medium heat in an iron skillet or pan with a heavy bottom add olive oil and sliced garlic. Cook for a minute or so, then season with salt and black (or white) pepper.
Add shrimp (using the dryer shrimp creates caramelization). Season them with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir once in a while and cook until the shrimp BEGINS to turn pink. Add wine and parsley and increase the heat. Stir them around and add butter. This should take no longer than 3 to 4 minutes, but it does depend on the size of the shrimp. Do not overcook.
In the meantime, drop the pasta into a pot of roaring boiling salted water.
Now check your shrimp and as soon as the butter has melted, remove the shrimp from the pan and let the sauce get a little bit thicker as it simmers.
Drop your Al Dente pasta to the pan containing the sauce along with some of the starchy water. The adding of the starchy water depends on your preference for the thickness or thinness of the sauce. I like to use kitchen tongs to fish out the pasta from the pot. I always reserve the extra starchy water for later if I need to thin out the dish.
Add shrimp back to the pan with all the accumulated juices and stir all together. Turn off the heat, zest the remaining one clove of garlic and stir. Sprinkle with additional chopped parsley and drizzle with olive oil.
Enjoy immediately!
I hope you'll make this recipe soon. If you do, please tag me #innichka_chef on Instagram, Facebook, Patreon or Pinterest.
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