This is a delicious recipe that is deceptively simple but seems incredibly fancy.
The shrimp must be shell on, otherwise don’t bother with making this. If you don’t want to cook with alcohol, use non-alcoholic dry white wine or chicken broth.
Ingredients:
12 pieces of jumbo shrimp with the shell on
100g capellini
Brine:
4 cups water
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
Broth:
shrimp shells
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup dry white wine (I used Sand Point Chardonnay from California)
2-4 fresh thyme sprigs (or ½ tsp dry)
Sauce:
4-8 garlic cloves
1 tsp chili flakes (more or less, depending on taste)
½ ground black pepper (or more, depending on taste)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cornstarch
4 tbsp unsalted butter
fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
1. Peel the shrimp and set the shells aside. Rinse the shrimp well.
2. Prepare the brine of water, salt and sugar and mix well to combine, then add the shrimp. Brine for 30 minutes.
3. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
4. Thinly slice the garlic Goodfellas style. A mandolin is the best tool for this.
5. Juice a lemon to get 3 tbsp.
6. Chop some parsley for garnish (totally optional).
7. To a sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat. Add the shrimp shells and sauté until the shells change colour. Remove from the heat, add the white wine (or wine substitute) and thyme and return to heat. Simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Strain the broth through a sieve, pushing a spoon down on the shells to get every bit of broth. Set aside.
9. After 30 minutes, remove the shrimp from the brine and pat dry.
10. To the boiling water, add a healthy pinch of salt, add the capellini and cook until al dente.
11. Wipe the pan you used to sauté the shells and place over medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Once warm, add the garlic, chili flakes and black pepper and sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute, when the garlic turns golden. Add the broth and let heat. Add the shrimp and poach until cooked, turning once or twice, then remove and set aside.
12. Add the cornstarch to the lemon juice and whisk to combine, then add to the pan and stir well and cook for 1 minute. Add the butter and stir until it melts, then add the shrimp back to the pan to heat. Add the chopped parsley.
13. Drain the pasta and divide it onto 2 plates, then equally divide the shrimp and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with bread and enjoy!
14. To plate, evenly distribute the pasta to 2 bowls, add the shrimp and spoon over the sauce. Crack some fresh black pepper over it if desired.
15. Enjoy!
00:00 Introduction
00:14 Peel the shrimp
00:45 Prep the garlic
01:05 Make the stock
02:00 Cook
03:07 Plating
Let’s make something fancy – shrimp scampi! We’ll start by making a brine for the shrimp. To a bowl with 4 cups of water, I’m adding 2 tbsp of salt and 1 tbsp of sugar, then stirring well so it all dissolves.
For the shrimp, I’m using jumbo shrimp that is frozen with the shell on but deveined. Peel the shrimp and add the shells to a separate bowl as we’re going to make a stock with them. Do not throw the shells away. It takes a bit of practice to peel them cleanly.
If you’re enjoying this video, please take a moment to thumbs up and subscribe. Stir up the brine and add the shrimp. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes. Now we’ll add a whole whack of garlic, I’m adding 6 large cloves. Thinly slice them, Goodfellas style.
I don’t have a razor so I’m going to use a mandolin to get the thin slices. Off camera, I put a medium pot of water on the stove to bring to a boil as we’re going to make some capellini (but any thin pasta will work).
To make the stock, place a large sauté pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Once hot, add the shrimp shells and sauté until they change colour. Remove the pan from the heat and add 1 cup of dry white wine then return to the heat.
Add some fresh thyme, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain the stock through a sieve, pressing down with a spoon to extract all the liquid. This smells incredible, like bread. Remove the shrimp from the brine and pat dry.
Off camera, I heavily salted the boiling water and added the capellini and will cook it to al dente. Wipe the pan you used to make the stock but don’t completely clean it. Place over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil.
Once warm, add the garlic, 1 tsp of chili flakes and black pepper to taste and sauté gently for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the stock and once heated, add the shrimp and poach it, flipping it a couple of times. When cooked, remove the shrimp.
Now I’m adding a slurry of 3 tbsp of fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp of corn starch and stirring it in. In goes 4 tbsp of unsalted butter and I’ll stir well to combine. Then in goes some chopped parsley for colour. Add the shrimp back to the pan to heat.
In the meantime, divide the pasta into bowls. To plate, add the shrimp and pour the amazing sauce over the pasta. I’m going to enjoy this with the white wine I used for the sauce. This is a very decadent meal, it smells great, tastes great and looks great. Thank you for watching.
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