Revised Shrimp Scampi recipe, Trez version

Shrimp Scampi. Trez version

After comments about the cooking time for shrimp regarding my last post, I felt I needed to revisit the recipe, which, admittedly, I had not made in a long time, to really figure out how long the shrimp needed to cook. 

I bought a pound of jumbo shrimp….which for us, was 21 shrimp. I used scissors with long pointy blades to cut through the back of the shrimp and remove the sand vein.  Then I left the shells on.

Cooking the shrimp in the shells add a lot of flavor to the meat, and they protect it from quickly overcooking. Besides, sitting around a table peeling and eating shrimp is a party right there.

I have a heavy cast iron pan that I bought the first year I was working after college. Mine is rectangular, but you can use a cast iron frying pan. The point is, you want to be able to put the pan under the broiler, and the cast iron will allow you to do that.

Place the shrimp in the pan…touching but not crowded. You can dip them in the butter sauce first, but after the shrimps are in the pan, pour the rest of the sauce over. 

Place the pan under the broiler. Keep an eye on them. When the shrimp shells have just started to turn black on their edges. Remove the pan from the oven. Turn the shrimp over and cook them again, just until the shells start to turn black. The number of minutes will depend on your stove.

Here’s what I learned about the sauce that is imparting that delicious garlic flavor: This olive oil/garlic/butter/lemon juice sauce is cooking the shrimp. But it has enough liquid to keep the shells soft to make them easy enough to peel off. You can plate the shrimp. By letting the shrimp cool just long enough so you don’t burn your fingers, the shells will come off easily.

Here are the ingredients for one pound of shrimp:

1 pound jumbo shrimp

4 large cloves of garlic

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

½ cup butter

½ cup olive oil

3 Tbsp chopped parsley

4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Enjoy!