Shrimp Scampi

Y'all should just know that as far as food goes, I live and breathe for shrimp. If I could, I would eat it daily. 

Just give me a house on the beach, with my family, and all of the fresh shrimp I can eat and I will die happy. That's not too much to ask for, is it?

I hate to use the term 'shrimp snob' when describing myself because the word 'snob' always rubs me the wrong way. And it sounds way too much like 'snot' and 'blob'...gross. Feel free to label me a shrimp connoisseur instead, because as we just covered, snobs are snotty blobs. Not cute.

Now, on to the dish that features my favorite crustacean!

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh shrimp, deveined, cleaned and butterflied
• milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 lb angel hair pasta
• 3 TBS minced garlic
• 1 diced tomato
• 1 shallot, thinly diced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• olive oil
• 5 fresh basil leaves cut into a chiffonade
• 4 TBS finally grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded Italian cheeses  

Directions

 

Heat large saucepan over medium-high heat, pour enough olive oil into the saucepan to cover the bottom.  Do not use too much oil, just enough to cover the bottom. Toss the shrimp into the milk to soak, I used a small mixing bowl and filled it with milk about 2/3 full. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, 2 TBS of parmesan cheese, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Take the shrimp out of the milk and coat with the dry mixture. Once the shrimp is coated, let them fry in the olive for a couple of minutes per side or until golden brown. You can expect some of the dry mixture to fall off. Once the shrimp is done, place it on a paper towel covered plate and set aside. 

Using the same saucepan (do not rinse out) add the minced garlic to the oil and stir continuously for a few minutes and then turn the heat down to medium-low. Add in the white wine and bring it to a boil. Turn your heat back down to low and cover the sauce pan for about 15 minutes, letting the wine reduce down. 

Go ahead and get a separate pot out, fill up about 2/3 full with water and bring it to a simmer. This is for the angel hair pasta, later on. 

Back to the sauce. Once the white wine has reduced, add in the heavy whipping cream and bring to a boil. Once the sauce strikes a boil turn the heat back down to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. After the cream sauce has simmered add in the diced tomatoes, diced shallot, the chiffonade of basil, the 2 remaining TBS of Parmesan cheese and the shredded Italian cheeses. Stir until combined and then add in the fried shrimp. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it thicken/cool.

 

Bring the pot of water to a full boil and add in the angel hair pasta. Follow the directions on the box.

 

When you are plating, you can pour the shrimp and sauce directly over the pasta or on the side. Your choice!

It sounds like work, but honey it's worth it!