Shrimp & Spaghetti - Scampi-style

On Sunday I had about an hour to throw together a dinner for myself and two friends - I found out at 5:00 they were coming at 6:00. As I looked around my kitchen I realized I had everything I needed for a scampi-style pasta dish. I quickly decided I wanted to cook shrimp, so I ran to market and bought a pound of large brown shrimp. I don't think this dish technically counts as shrimp scampi because I had no white wine in my apartment, and as many of you know I couldn't go buy a bottle of wine - it was Sunday after all. (For those of you who don't live here - you can't buy alcohol "off-site" on Sundays in Minnesota.) I don't think it really matters though - shrimp scampi isn't very well defined, despite appearances it is actually an American-Italian dish - you won't find it in Italy. Plus you can always add wine, if I had it I would have.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb spaghetti

Salt for cooking the spaghetti

4-6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 large lemon, zested and juiced

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1-1.5 lbs large white or brown shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 large handful of Italian parsley, finely chopped

Pecorino romano, grated

Kosher salt and black pepper 

Start by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil. When the water is boiling cook the spaghetti for the amount of time on the back of the box. The timing here assumes the spaghetti will take 10-12 minutes to cook. 

In a large skillet melt the butter over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and tomatoes and saute for 1-2 minutes. Next add the shrimp. Be careful to not over cook them. Saute them on one side for about 2 minutes and then flip the shrimp and turn the heat off. They will cook through in 2-3 minutes.  Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.

When the pasta is al dente, transfer it directly to the pan with the scampi sauce and toss immediately. Add the chopped parsley, grated pecorino, salt and pepper to taste and toss well. Serve the pasta with 4-5 shrimp per portion.

Bon appetit!