Shrimp scampi is one of those dishes that I have always wanted to try but never got to. For years, I have been drooling over photos of shrimp scampi on menus, food blogs, and magazines. What I love about this dish is that it is vibrant and not drenched in sauce. Before today, my go to pasta dish was just spaghetti with a jar of tomato sauce (if you even call that a dish). Pasta with tomato sauce is classic and all, but it gets boring after a while.
I also love shrimp scampi because it is full of so much flavor. The creamy butter, loads of garlic, and the slight acidic touch of lemon add dimension to the dish. Even more, the white wine adds a unique taste to this recipe.
The white wine I used for this recipe was white cooking wine. Despite the name, cooking wines are not meant for cooking. To get the best flavors, a good quality drinkable wine is recommended. However, I was not willing to fork over $15 for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Instead, I just used a $1.25 bottle of Pompeian white cooking wine on sale from Shoprite, and the dished turned out just as delicious. I guess I will never know what I am missing out on until I try the real thing.
Speaking of wine, as I was waiting in line to check out at Shoprite, I freaked out a little bit. I remembered someone who got stopped from buying some kind of cooking wine at an Asian supermarket because she was underage. Luckily, I was able to check out with no questions asked.
Although shrimp scampi is an Italian dish, I added Chinese sausage to this recipe. I just came back from Hong Kong Supermarket and they had it on sale. Besides, I have been deprived of Chinese sausage, and this dish was the perfect excuse to eat some. Chinese sausage tastes good with anything!
Shrimp Scampi
1 lb cooked spaghetti
1 1/2 lbs jumbo shrimp 3 tb olive oil 4 tb butter
1 head of garlic, minced
2 links of Chinese style sausage cut into small pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tb ground black pepper and salt to taste
Green onions for garnish
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta with a tablespoon of salt.
2. Prepare ingredients white pasta is cooking.
3. Salt shrimp with about two teaspoons of salt.
4. Drain pasta when done and set aside. Add some oil to the pasta to prevent sticking.
5. Heat olive oil and butter in a pan. Add garlic and sausage. Sauté garlic until browned and sausage is cooked through.
6. Add shrimp in one layer and cook for two minutes. Turn shrimp over and cook for another minute just until pink. Do not overcook shrimp at this step, because it will continue to cook once the wine is added.
7. Add white wine and lemon juice. Simmer sauce for about 1 minute.
8. Toss cooked pasta into shrimp and sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add green onions.
a la cupcake 