Shrimp Scampi

Photo Credit: Brighton Park

Mr. Darcy and I both L*O*V*E to cook and we love to cook all kind of foods: French, Southwest, Greek, Italian, Indian, you name it. Our cookbook collection is like a United Nations of Culinary Texts. My favorite dishes are those that taste divine but took very little fuss to make; coincidentally (or not) they are often one-pot dishes. Shrimp scampi is one of those dishes.

Shrimp scampi is an easy dish to make. The trick is to not overcook the shrimp and to get the combination of butter, wine, garlic and parsley to your particular taste. Here is my recipe, but I recommend playing with it, having some fun, and deciding your favorite way to prepare this tasty dish.  I'm really not sure there even is a wrong way to put these ingredients together!  We serve ours with a green side salad and plain butter noodles. It is also divine over rice.

Katie's Shrimp Scampi

Prep time: under 10 minutes  Cook time: under 4 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2  pounds large shrimp (about 16 to 24) (for me, the bigger the better, Fresh or Fresh-frozen, tail on)
• 1/2  cup butter
• 4 tablespoons  garlic--minced
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional--if I have it on hand I put it in; if I don't I don't)
• 1 1/2  tablespoons fresh lemon lemon juice (don't get technical, you can just give your half lemon one good squeeze over the dish.  TIP: remove seeds of lemon half before doing this and you won't end up with any surprise seeds in your scampi))
• 4-6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I like a lot of parsley)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• **I know many people who like scallions (green onions) in their scampi. If this is you, you add 3 tablespoons, thinly sliced.

Preparation:

• Rinse shrimp and set aside.
• Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat
• Add garlic and cook about a minute. You want it golden, not brown.
• Add shrimp, (green onions if you are using them), wine (if you are using wine) and toss lightly in the melted butter.
• Add lemon by giving 1/2 a lemon a good squeeze over the dish (you want about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
•  cook until shrimp are pink and firm, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Do not overcook.
•   Add chopped parsley and stir.
•  Add pepper (we use a pepper mill and I give the whole dish a LIGHT dusting). 
• Add salt to taste

**running water over frozen shrimp will thaw it very quickly, making a bag of shrimp a great staple to keep in your freezer. I buy it when it is on sale and then I have it on hand later.
We serve this with a green side salad and with either rice or plain butter noodles. Enjoy!

This post is linked up to Farmgirl Fridays at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House.  the Weekend Whatever at Your Thriving Family, Whatever you want Wednesdays at Free Pretty Things for you. and Show me what you got at Not Just a Housewife.