For you seafood and pasta lovers, here is a recipe that will not disappoint. Ina Garten, the kitchen diva who has perfected stylish dishes with her straightforward and practical approach, serves up an intensely lemon-infused shrimp scampi linguine that is satisfying to eat and simple to make.
Linguine with shrimp scampi
Serves 6
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
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Grated zest of 1 lemon
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
½ lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 teaspoon 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.
Recipe reproduced from the Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook, courtesy of Random House, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, copyright 2002.
Notes from Daryl’s test kitchen:
In addition to not burning the garlic, the other key is sautéing the shrimp. A common mistake is to overcook shellfish. With overcooking, shrimp and scallops become rubbery and lose much of their delicate flavor. The recipe suggests five minutes for sautéing, but this is a guidepost. The time needed will depend on the skillet used and the size of the shrimp, as well as the heat source. Continually watch for doneness, which will be as soon as the shrimp have barely lost their raw color. If the pasta is taking longer to cook than the sauce, it is better to remove the skillet from the heat source and let the shrimp finish cooking in the hot skillet. Otherwise, cooking to doneness and then leaving in the hot skillet while the pasta finishes cooking will result in overcooked shrimp.
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