Messin’ with Perfection Spicy Shrimp Scampi
I mentioned in my last post that SOMEone had had a birthday. I have mentioned many of his favorite dishes and ingredients over time. One of his favorite main dish ingredients is shrimp. It ranks right up there with steak on his scale. I like shrimp but, living in Michigan, it isn’t exactly as fresh as living near the coast. The Gunker doesn’t care about trivial things like that. Add the spicy factor and this is one of the few dishes that get some serious enthusiasm on his face.
His problem is, when you make a dinner like this that he really likes, he eats too much, then typically doesn’t have room for dessert. Knowing that was likely going to be an issue here, I made sure we had dinner a little early, so he would have room for that Orange Carrot Cake that I made for him. (I got TWO thumbs up that day, and TWO thank you’s!) If it sounds like he is not appreciative of good food, I don’t mean it that way. He just isn’t a “foodie”. If it’s good and he really likes it, he eats a LOT of it. If he doesn’t care for it, he does the “meh” thing and doesn’t eat much of it. There are a few things that light him up, Shrimp is one of those.
The plus side for me? Aside from being delicious, this dish is REALLY quick and easy. Once you get started cooking the shrimp, it goes together VERY FAST, so have your other ingredients ready. I kept it to a half pound of shrimp, since it was just the two of us.
- ½ pound large (I used 26-30 count per pound) raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 - 2 teaspoons spicy Creole seasoning like Tony Cacheres, or ¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon capers, crushed
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ pound cooked linguine, fettuccine or spaghetti
- 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Toss cleaned shrimp in a bowl with the creole seasoning and set aside. Get the garlic and capers ready together in a small dish. Squeeze the lemon juice into a dish with the wine. About the time the pasta is done, place the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Once the pan is good and hot, add the shrimp and spread them out evenly in the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes and quickly turn the shrimp. Add the garlic and capers to the pan and cook for 30 seconds. Add the wine, lemon juice, and remaining 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet and cook for 1½ minutes. Season the shrimp with the salt and pepper and add the pasta, tossing to coat well. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the parsley. Serve hot.