I love shrimp scampi. And if you think about it, the dish is really about the sauce. It’s a few simple ingredients coming together to make any dish sing: olive oil, sliced garlic, a touch of butter for flavor, lemon juice and/or zest, and fresh parsley. Lots of fresh parsley. Maybe even some chives, or you might cook the shrimp in white wine for a minute or two.
• ON-DEMAND: Listen to Faith and the gang describe how they make shrimp scampi sauce. •
Aside from pasta, I like a garlicy scampi sauce over spiralized zucchini noodles (aka zoodles), rice, or couscous, and with bread crumbs, regular or gluten free, sprinkled over the top. Alex Province suggests a few red pepper flakes, not too make it hot, but to add a little heat in the background.
And here’s Mark Raymond’s mother-in-law’s spin on shrimp scampi: she breads shrimp with RITZ Cracker crumbs, toasts them up in the oven for about 5 minutes, then adds the toasty shrimp to her stove-top scampi sauce, which includes lemon zest and capers. We’re angling for an invite.
— Faith Middleton
Marc Kurnick says
Great show today. Scampi has been one of my all-time favorites to make as well as devour! Here’s a tip, based on your question Faith – how to prepare a scampi sauce ahead of time to enjoy in many different ways:
With the bare essentials of butter & best EVOO possible, fresh garlic, fresh lemon juice & zest, white wine and fresh parsley, after preparing the basic pan sauce and while still at a low simmer one can stir in either a slurry of a little flour and water or stock, or a tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot diluted in cold water or white wine. This will stabilize the sauce which can be held over for a later time covered and refrigerated or brought to that great picnic! I’ve frequently added seeded diced fresh tomatoes and fresh scallions or chives at the last minute right to the pan.
Robyn Doyon-Aitken says
Thank you Chef Marc!