Shrimp Scampi Pasta

This is a continuation to our Mother’s Day dinner. This scrumptious pasta accompanied the beer braised baby back ribs.

The recipe is simple. My version was inspired by the Food Network Kitchens. Only, I added more garlic and lemon. I also bought already-cooked jumbo shrimp, and served it over Linguini. Because I served it over pasta, I increased the recipe.

Let’s get started…

Ingredients

31-40 count frozen cooked jumbo shrimp

1 pound of Linguini

1 stick of unsalted butter

2 garlic bulbs

1 1/2 cups of extra dry vermouth

2 lemons

1/4 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Lemon zest from one lemon

Sea salt and group black pepper

Directions

Thaw shrimp overnight in the refrigerator.

Cook pasta according to packaged instructions. I like it al dente; firm but not hard. It depends on how much pasta you are cooking, but for one pound, I cook it for about 10 minutes. After eight minutes, I start checking the pasta by removing a piece and taking a bite. When the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water and set aside.

Melt unsalted butter in a pan. Meanwhile, start to chop up your garlic and parsley leaves, and zest your lemon. Once the butter is melted, add garlic and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to brown.

Pour in your vermouth and squeezed lemon juice. Bring to a boil.

Food Network says to use a wooden spoon to help scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. I’ve found this works the best.

Stir in the lemon zest and parsley. The sauce is done.

Toss the pasta, shrimp and sauce all together right before you are ready to serve. If you do it too soon, the pasta will suck up all the juice and become dry.

Grate fresh Parmesan over the pasta and garnish with parsley.

Cooking the pasta takes longer than the sauce, and it’s amazing. I really enjoy this dish, especially, with a crusty bread.

Next up, the dessert. Stay hungry.

Sweet citrus. This was a lot of work; even using a slow cooker, but well worth it. I’m not much of a BBQ girl. Imagine that! It has to be really yummy BBQ for me to like it.

I did a little Internet search to find a qualifying pulled pork recipe. My inspiration came from Bobby Flay‘s Cuban Pulled Pork Tacos with Guava Glaze, Sour Orange Red Cabbage-Jicama Slaw and Chipotle Mayonnaise. That’s a mouth full. Check out his recipe. It’s awesome, but I’m not as talented as this man. Hell! I had to Google Jicama.

Of course I changed it a little bit. Actually, I changed it a lot, but the inspiration is still there. Thanks Bobby. Love. You.

Let’s get started. Grab two Bluemoons, and turn up the iTunes.

First, get a pork roast. Toss it in your warming crock pot. Take 1/2 cup of fresh oregano leaves, eight garlic cloves, 3/4 cup of EVOO, some sea salt and grind it together in a blender. Put it over the pork roast.

Looks like something from Untold ER Stories.

Add in a 12 ounce jar of red raspberry jam, 1/4 cup of Dijon, and 1/2 cup of Bluemoon pale ale. Add in a zest from one large orange. Squeeze in two small fresh limes, and lots of fresh ground pepper. Let it cook for about seven hours on low, or until the pork pulls apart nicely. My friend Monica told me to cook it while I slept. Great idea. Or, you can do this while you are at work, but I’m not a big fan of leaving appliances plugged in while I’m not home.

Next up…

Chipotle Mayonnaise. This is the cherry on top. Mix it in a grinder/blender two small chili peppers, squeeze in one fresh lime, and 3/4 cup of low-fat Hellmann’s mayo. I like it spicy, but this was not spicy enough. When I make this again, I’m going to use two more chili peppers. And, if that’s not hot enough, I’m going to add in hot sauce – Damn it!

Let the ingredients party together for a night or two.

Coleslaw topping. Bobby Flay, God love him, uses all kinds of fresh veges that I never knew existed. His job is cooking, but I worked the next day, so I did a little improv. Use two bags of coleslaw mix and add in a half of red onion. Done!

For the dressing I used one large fresh squeezed orange, two packets of Truvia, two tablespoons of honey, and lots of fresh ground pepper, and some sea salt. Toss it in a baggie for a few hours. It’s also good overnight, but can become wilted. Still good.

The bread. I used Tuscany style ‘Tear and Share’ bread from Giant Eagle. Oh My God! So, moan-worthy. It’s perfect for small sandwiches.

The finale…

Toast your bun, top with pork, slaw, mayo. Ah! Sweet pork.

For the calorie conscience, serve it in a whole wheat wrap.

As my ex-brother-in-law would say, “Good Groceries!”

Did you drink the second Bluemoon I told you to grab? Good for you! Grab another and drink and eat and be merry.

I served the leftovers to a few coworkers and they absolutely loved it. Thank my lucky stars because this took me two days. Whew!

If you try it, or if you do something different, let me know; because this girl likes to eat.

Thanks for reading.

Tag: food network

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

Bluemoon Pulled Pork