Garlic and butter scampi pasta with white wine, fresh herbs, lemon and red pepper flakes, tossed with seasoned, pan-seared shrimp.
Pan Seared Shrimp with Scampi Pasta
I always thought shrimp scampi was, well, just shrimp scampi. A very simple, but flavorful dish, and so satisfying for those of us who love shrimp with plenty of garlic and butter, tossed with some pasta. Accented with a little white wine, some fresh lemon and herbs, and a dash of red pepper flakes, it's a quick to the table dish and just delicious!Apparently, the word scampi actually refers to the name of a pale pink crustacean called langoustines, or lobsterettes, according to my Italian cookbook The Silver Spoon {affil link}, which has a variety of recipes dedicated to using them... but oddly, nothing like this! Langoustines come from the North Sea, and look and taste similar to lobster, although it's far smaller. Reminds me of a pale pink version of our local crawfish, but with more slender claws. It is, apparently a very important part of European cuisine though. Who knew?
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| Photo Credit |
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| Dad's old shrimp boat, Lucy F. Sure do miss her! |
Of course, a rite of passage growing up around here is working a shrimp boat at some point in your life, and anybody who has, knows those shrimp are never really free, as it is some pretty grueling work. Putting them up is a job in and of itself. Still, I sure do miss those days and having 100 pounds of fresh-caught Gulf shrimp in my freezer. You can bet one thing though, even bought frozen at the grocery store, it's gonna be wild-caught Gulf shrimp and not some foreign import that we're eating in this house.
An appropriate substitute for langoustines in an Italian recipe is notably jumbo shrimp or crawfish, but for this dish, I used a 26/30 count, which is considered a medium to large sized shrimp, but not jumbo or colossal. I just prefer them a bit smaller in a pasta dish.
I also grow herbs in a patio garden right outside of my backdoor, or in an inside Aerogarden {affil link} but if you don't grow them, you probably pick them up occasionally at your local grocery market. I bet you tend to have to pitch them before you come close to using them up too!
To counter that, I found these refrigerator herb keepers {affil link}. You put a little water in the bottom and close the door and it helps to keep them fresh much, much longer. Pretty neat. I was skeptical and surprised how long they stayed fresh actually! There are some versions a bit more expensive, but so far I'm pretty good with these more affordable ones.
For fresh herbs I had basil and parsley, so that's what I used, though certainly use whatever you like. A little acidity from some fresh lemon juice really adds to this dish too, but remember, shrimp is the star here, so not too much. You don't want to overpower it with lemon flavor. For my seasoning blend on the shrimp, I used Cajun seasoning and Old Bay, with a just a little bit of brown sugar to help encourage a good sear.
To prepare, toss the shrimp with the seasonings, sear in hot oil in the skillet, wipe out, add butter and olive oil, saute a bunch of garlic, add in a good white wine (or you can substitute chicken broth), add lemon juice and seasonings, boil until mixture reduces, toss in pasta, a little more butter, herbs and seasonings, then add shrimp with any accumulated juices, heat through and serve immediately with some French bread and a nice garden salad. Easy!
Oh my gosh... garlicky, buttery pasta with seasoned shrimp. So good y'all. Dig in!
I cook a lot, and one thing I have learned about cooking is that when you have the right tools, it's a much more pleasant, and easier, experience, so for years I have shared some of my favorite kitchen tools and gadgets with y'all right here on the blog.
Well, I finally gathered up some of my favorite kitchen helpers in one spot at my own Amazon store {affil link}. These are all products that I use and love, except for a very small handful that are still on my wishlist. Click the link to visit my shop to check out my favorite things... and be sure to bookmark to visit again as I will continue to update! Some of my favorites used with this recipe are:
Hand-Powered Food Chopper
Refrigerator Herb Keeper
Rada Cutlery R134 Cook's Knife
Copper Chef 9-1/2-inch square fry pan.
Cooling rack
Spurtle
For more of my favorite shrimp recipes, click over to my page on Pinterest!
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