Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 pounds linguine
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 5 tablespoons good olive oil
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
- 2 pounds large shrimp (about 32 shrimp), peeled and deveined
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
- 1/2 lemon, thinkly sliced in half rounds
- 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Directions:
- Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.
- Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 tablespoon of salt, and the pepper and sauté until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.
- When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.
Tips and tricks:
- This makes a lot of scampi - probably serves 6 - 8 people. Halfing it is a good idea.
- You can use fresh shrimp or frozen uncooked shrimp. Don't use already cooked frozen shrimp - they're not nearly as good.
- The most important part of the meal is cooking the shrimp right. It's really easy to overcook them.
- You can probably use less butter and more red pepper flakes than the recipe suggests.
- You can use lobster tail instead of shrimp as a delicious alternative!