Shrimps!

This is one of my favorite “go-to” dinners on week nights when I come home from work. I almost always have a bag of frozen, uncooked shrimp in my freezer, and while I generally like to use jumbo shrimp, the medium sized ones were on sale this week so that’s what I had and thats used. And I almost always have the rest of the ingredients on hand too which makes this dinner so easy and fuss free.

And honestly, these are rough estimates for the amount of each ingredient used. I am just a pourer, shaker and taster when it comes to cooking... this is why I have to try so damn hard when I bake :) I’m also a firm believer in making whatever recipe you’re using your own. You can add fresh diced tomatoes to scampi, leave out the capers if they’re too salty for you, add a little red pepper flake for heat, whatever gives it your own flare. Recipes are simply suggestions not guidelines.

Shrimp Scampi

1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp

1/2 cup white wine (I happen to have a bottle of sauv blanc open so I used that, whatever you’ve got open)

1 shallot, roughly chopped

4-5 cloves minced garlic

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of zested lemon

Tablespoon capers (if you’ve got them)

Handful of Italian Flat Leaf Parsley chopped

Salt and pepper

In a mixing bowl, toss your shrimp with kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, set aside. Pour enough olive oil in a sauté pan to cover the bottom, and heat over medium/high heat. Toss in your seasoned shrimp on one side until they begin to curl and turn pink. Flip to the other side and cook for about another minute. Take them out of the pan and set aside (but not in the same dish they were in before they were cooked :) ). With your pan back over medium/low heat, toss in the shallot, garlic and capers and sauté until the shallots become soft and translucent. Be care not to let your garlic turn brown or it will taste bitter. When vegetables are soft and translucent, pour in your wine, capers, lemon juice & zest and let reduce for a few minutes. Toss the shrimp (and any juices from the plate or bowl) just to heat through. Take off the heat, sprinkle in the parsley and serve. *Shrimp have a tendency to overcook and become rubbery and only take about 5 minutes to cook - you’ll know they’re done when they are curled, pink and no longer translucent. (I like that word tonight and cannot for the life of me remember the opposite of translucent. Opaque? Well whatever it is, you’ll know when you can’t see through the shrimp anymore)*

I grew up having scampi over pasta but when I started making scampi for JP, I served it over rice because he grew up with two scoops of rice with EVERYTHING he ate, and I actually prefer it over rice now too.