baked shrimp scampi

Last night I made shrimp scampi and roasted asparagus. According to Wikipedia, “scampi” is a culinary term that is alternately used for a species of lobster or a method of preparing seafood. It is also the name of a dish of shrimp served in garlic butter and dry white wine. Yum.

This recipe came from Ina Garten, and if you know anything about Ina, you know she likes to use a lot of butter. Regardless, the woman knows what she’s doing. I started off by using 1 pound of large shrimp instead of two. I used only 3/4 stick of butter instead of 1 1/2 sticks (but only because I was using less shrimp ^_^), and eye-balled the rest of the ingredients. As I was preparing the delicious buttery/garlicky topping… I reached for the red pepper flakes, which I was going to sprinkle on top… and ended up pouring about half of the container out on accident! When and why I had removed the shaker lid, I don’t remember, but luckily I was able to rescue my topping. And Oh. My. God. This dish was heavenly.

If you’re looking for something special to make, I highly recommend this recipe. It’s so good, you won’t care how much butter you’re consuming. Next time I’m going to serve it with sour dough bread to dip in the garlic butter sauce. Mmmm…

Baked Shrimp Scampi from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp in the shell
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 extra-large egg yolk
2/3 cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch oval gratin dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and towards the center of the dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute. Serve with lemon wedges.

Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

1 bunch fresh asparagus, washed
1 tablespoon olive oil
freshly grated Parmesan
1 lemon cut in wedges, for serving
salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Trim off about 1 inch from the bottom of each stalk of the asparagus. Lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and season salt and pepper. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Squeeze a little lemon juice and top with Parmesan.