It’s a Scampi Kind of Day

Here in America, Scampi is all about the cooking technique. Scampi can be anything from a chicken to a shrimp that is sautéed and served in a yummy helping of my favorites – garlic and butter. Truth be told, Escargot is just a fancy way to pop garlic and butter into my mouth.

Americans haven’t a clue what a Langoustine or Norwegian Lobster is. Food labeling laws in the UK require products labeled “Scampi” to actually contain Langoustine, Andaman Lobster or New Zealand Lobster. True scampi tend to be large, with a firm succulent texture and rich buttery flavor. While prawns are also on the larger side with firm texture, they are slightly briny in flavor vs. shrimp that are sweeter. The closest we can get are Jumbo or Super Colossal Shrimp, with a per-pound count of between 8 and 12 shrimp. If you live in a part of the world that actually sells Scampi – awesome! And can you ship me some? (Just kidding).

When I first decided to make this “Americanized” Scampi dish, I thought I should use the largest shrimp I could possible find, to keep the whole experience as close to the real deal as I could. Hubby and I went to Costco. Now I know what you are thinking – a big box store for seafood? In reality, the have a wider selection of shrimp than most grocery stores. Oh, but there was a downside. While Costco had some 6 to 8 per pound size shrimp, they were whole shrimp – as in head with beady little black eyes and legs and tails and guts and everything. That was far more ucky cleaning than I cared to do. And I don’t have one of those fancy tools designed to clean shrimp. I know, hard to believe, isn’t it? I guess that’s because I buy my shrimp already cleaned and ready to cook. Sure, I do need to peel them, but that’s easy. It’s removing their little heads and the deveining that I’m not keen on.

I really am a fan of most shell fish – shrimp, prawns, lobsters and crabs. The meat is so sweet and best of all, they all go great with butter. Growing up butter was reserved for special occasions – Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. These days butter is an every-day luxury. What is reserved for very special occasions are European or Irish butters. Hubby and Kiddo swear they can’t tell the difference, but I sure can.

For this Scampi recipe I’m going with the largest clean raw shrimp I can find and good old American butter. Enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi Linguine
1-1/2 lbs Super Colossal Shrimp (8 to 12 count)
12 oz Linguini
6 Garlic Cloves
1/4 cup fresh Parsley
1 Lemon
Kosher Salt to taste
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1/3 cup White Wine
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
4 tablespoons Butter

Peel, devein shrimp. For a dramatic presentation, leave tails intact. For ease of eating, remove. Keep shrimp chilled until ready to cook.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta al dente, about 12 minutes.

While the water comes to a boil and the pasta cooks peel and finely mince garlic. Snip parsley. Cut lemon into wedges for serving.

Season the shrimp with salt. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is just golden, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until pink and just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp to a plate. Add the wine and lemon juice to the skillet and simmer until slightly reduced, 2 minutes. Return the shrimp and any juices that may have accumulated on the plate to the skillet.

Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, the drain the linguini, add to the skillet. Stir in the butter and some of reserved pasta water. Continue to cook, tossing, until the butter is melted and the shrimp is hot, about 2 minutes, adding more of the reserved pasta water as needed. Season with salt; stir in the parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.

Serve with a simple salad and warm garlic bread. Also nice with a crisp bottle of wine. Per aun buona salute.

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