Finally, the weather is catching up to the changing seasons. April is upon us and while it started out rather dreary, it’s starting to grow warmer, days later, and sun shining stronger. A perfect example of this is getting sunburnt just sitting out in the sun for one hour. Literally, ONE hour. I digress. Part of my journey this week for fish week is to try out new recipes that I have been yearning to try, which obviously includes shrimp. We had a slight mishap with flounder (which went rancid way too quickly…) and so I resorted to shrimp a day early.
Shrimp is one of those proteins that I feared cooking with. I always get nervous about over-cooking it, or under-cooking so that it’s practically raw. This was my moment, to try and make shrimp that tastes really delicious in a sauce I know I can make with my eyes closed: Shrimp Scampi. The amount of butter, garlic, and lemon juice used for this recipe may sound like a lot, but in fact, with the shrimp on a low simmer in the scampi sauce, the results were perfect. Tender pieces of shrimp, cooked to perfection, with a side of broccoli rabe and on a bed of Banza rice (we all know my obsession with Banza. If you haven’t tried Banza yet, you can find it here!)
I started making this dish by defrosting shrimp in the sink as I went to work. I was actually very surprised to see that when I came back, the house didn’t smell like shrimp, which already meant I was winning. I rinsed the shrimp and decided to cut it into smaller pieces, I tossed the shrimp with salt and set it aside. In a large pan, I added two tablespoons of butter and layered the shrimp into the pan, heat medium. I let the shrimp sit for two minutes then flipped over, adding in chopped garlic.
I continued to cook the shrimp and toss with the garlic, butter, and added in two tablespoons of lemon juice. I lowered the flame to low heat and simmered the shrimp for another three to four minutes. Simultaneously, I made my Banza rice (cooked similarly to orzo). Once the shrimp were done, I took a scoop of the rice and plated the shrimp on top, and sprinkled fresh grated Parmesan cheese for finish. I must say, this was a home run. Round two, I will be sure to add some more green, like fresh basil or parsley. NOMaste 🙂
Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients
- 15-20 medium Shrimp wild, cleaned, deveined and peeled
- 3 cloves garlic chopped, but not finely.
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup banza rice (or regular rice)
Instructions
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Start by cleaning shrimp and pat dry. Cut shrimp into smaller bite size pieces and toss with salt. Set aside
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Heat a large pan on medium heat, and add the butter to melt. Place shrimp into the pan and sear for two minutes. Turn shrimp over and continue to cook for another two minutes.
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Add in the chopped garlic and lemon juice. Turn heat to low and continue to cook the shrimp, tossing and flipping regularly. Let simmer for five minutes.
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Meanwhile, prep Banza rice or regular rice as package indicates. Take some of the scampi sauce and mix with the rice. Layer shrimp on top of the rice and season with sea salt and cracked pepper.