Grilled Shrimp Scampi

Bev and I hope everyone had a great time celebrating the birth of our magnificent nation.

The following was not our Independence Day meal.  Bev wanted shrimp scampi and loves grilled shrimp so we decided to combine the two dishes.  We used the same recipe for our scampi sauce as last time and got it going when we put the pasta in the water and when the pasta was about half done, I started the shrimp.

Sauce:

3 T. butter

2½ T. good olive oil

1½ T. minced garlic (4 cloves)

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

1/3 C. chopped fresh parsley leaves

½ lemon, zest grated

¼ C. freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)

¼ lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds

1/8 t. hot red pepper flakes

Pasta:

¾ pound pasta (we used thin spaghetti)

Kosher salt

Shrimp:

1 lb. large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined

½ stick melted butter

S&P

Directions:

1. Preheat grill and start pasta water heating – when boiling add about  1 T. kosher salt and the pasta and cook al dente.

2. Meanwhile, in a 12-inch heavy-bottomed sauté pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat, add the garlic saute for 1 minute.  (Be careful, the garlic burns easily)   

3. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

4. Toss the shrimp with oil and season with pepper and salt (unless using salted butter).  Grill over a hot fire for a minute and baste the top with butter, flip and grill for 1 ½ minutes basting the top with butter, flip a third time for about 30 seconds and remove from the grill.  Quickly toss with the sauce to coat the shrimp, add the pasta, and toss everything together.

We grilled up a little cheesy garlic bread to go with it.

I cooked everything on the grill, using the side burner for the pasta and the regular grates for the pan of sauce.  It was very good and grilling the shrimp added an extra dimension of flavor to the dish.  I think it could have used about 25% more sauce though.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

6/25/2013 meal date