Shrimp Scampi (ZReboot 3.5 Version)

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe.

This is a classic Italian dish. The one you order at Olive Garden will have WAY more pasta than this dish will have. That’s okay. The shrimp are the real star of this dish. Plus, you’ll be better off without all that starch.

Most restaurants serve this as an appetizer with no pasta. This gives you more shrimp and a more lovely sauce.

What will take the longest with this dish is peeling and taking the shells off the shrimp. You want fresh shrimp though and I’ll teach you how to boil down the shells to make it super-tasty. A deeper flavor is the bonus.

Servings: Serves 3 – 4. Can be doubled easily.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbl of butter (divided)
  • 2 Tbl of olive oil
  • 4 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic can work)
  • 1 cup of white wine. I use chardonnay. You want a dry wine.
  • ½ tsp of grated sea salt
  • A light dusting of cracked red pepper flakes (or to taste). In this case, I want the garlic to be the star of the show; not spice.
  • Freshly grated black pepper
  • 1-1/2 pounds of large, non-frozen shrimp
  • juice of one half of a lemon
  • Cooked pasta (optional). With this dish, I used thin spaghetti. I always break the pasta in half now before I cook it. That makes you feel like you are getting more. Keep in mind that even the American Pasta Association calls a cup of cooked pasta a portion. I keep mine really low and I don’t miss a big pile of pasta. I might treat myself to a little slice of garlic bread if I keep the pasta low.

Instructions:

If you are making pasta, put the water on to boil. This dish does not take long. Cook the pasta after you are done peeling the shrimp. Then drain it when you’re ready to serve.

To peel the shrimp, the first thing I do is take off the legs. I can usually do this in one pull. Just squish the legs between your thumb and forefinger and yank. Then peel back the shell pieces. Put the legs in the trash but put the shells in a bowl off to the side. I’ll show you what to do with them later.

Once your shrimp are peeled you’ll need to devein them. I used to cut down the back of the shrimp and pull out the grimy gray strip. Now I am finding lately that it’s easier to do the from the underside of the shrimp. That grimy gray thing is their intestinal tract. You don’t want that in your dish, but it usually comes off easily and just rinse. For this dish, I pull off the tails and toss those, too.

In a medium saucepan, add the shrimp shells and a cup of white wine. Start cooking that on medium-high for about 10 minutes. Stir them around. You want to reduce the wine a bit and bring out the flavor with the shrimp shells. It will make a richer tasting dish. If the wine gets too low just add some more.

In a large saute pan add half of the butter and the olive oil. Melt it. Add the garlic and swish it around to bring up the flavor. Don’t cook it too long or too high. You don’t want to brown the garlic. That tastes yucky/harsh.

Now drain your shrimp shells but keep the WINE! Drain it over a bowl or cup so you can use it.

Put that wine in with the garlic and oil. Add the salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer.

Add the shrimp and saute until they just turn pink. 2 – 4 minutes (depending on their size) will do it. You want them cooked but you don’t want round rubber balls.

Stir in the lemon juice and two more Tbl of butter. Let that melt.

Now you can serve this on a plate with or without pasta. If you do pasta, I usually use a dinner bowl so I can put in my small amount of pasta on the bottom and pile on the shrimp. Stir it around a bit. Good news is as you eat it, you’re likely to be full before you finish the pasta amount.

You can serve with a roasted veggie or a salad to be fancier.

Enjoy!

Cheers,