Shrimp Scampi with Pasta

Cooking for Kids

Most of the elementary school aged children I’ve cared for love shrimp. Keeping a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer always gives me a quick and impressive dinner to make for the family. Just put some frozen shrimp in a bowl of ice water and by the time the pasta water has come to a boil the shrimp are defrosted enough to cook. Shrimp scampi has to be one of the easiest ways to quickly prepare shrimp. If you cook dinner for the entire family you work for, like I do, shrimp scampi served with linguine pasta makes a delicious and striking main dish for both the parents and the children.

You Will Need:
1 (16 ounce) package linguine pasta (we used spaghetti above but you can use angel hair as well)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (or more to taste)
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pinch kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

What to Do:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook linguine in boiling water until nearly tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes in the hot butter and oil until shallots are translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Season shrimp with kosher salt and black pepper; add to the skillet and cook until pink, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from skillet and keep warm.

3. Pour white wine and lemon juice into skillet and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet, stir 2 tablespoons olive oil into butter mixture, and bring to a simmer. Toss linguine, shrimp, and parsley in the butter mixture until coated; season with salt and black pepper. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil to serve.

References:
Recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com. I don’t include red pepper flakes when cooking for children.
Photo by Stephanie Felzenberg