Name: Shrimp Scampi Pasta with Kalamata Olives
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 lb. Shrimp (peeled and de-veined, make sure to thaw); 16 oz Linguine (or similar pasta); 2 Tbsp Butter (for aromatics and shrimp); 2 Tbsp Oil (for aromatics and shrimp); 2 Shallots (diced); 4 cloves Garlic (minced or crushed); 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes; 1/2 cup Dry White Wine (such as Chardonnay or similar); Juice of one Lemon; 2 Tbsp Butter (if needed, for finishing); 2 Tbsp Oil (if needed, for finishing); Salt & Pepper (to taste); 2 – 4 Tbsp Parsley (chopped); ~ 4 handfuls Rapini, Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli), or Baby Spinach (roughly chopped); 1/2 – 1 cup Kalamata Olives (pit-less); 1/2 cup Sundried Tomatoes

Some of the links in this article are "affiliate links", a link with a special tracking code. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. The price of the item is the same whether it is an affiliate link or not. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers. By using the affiliate links, you are helping support our Website, and we genuinely appreciate your support.

A Shrimp Scampi Pasta with Kalamata Olives based on a dish from my family’s favorite Italian restaurant.

Originally Posted: Mar. 10, 2025

Shrimp scampi linguine with kalamata olives. I forgot the sun-dried tomatoes in this one, but they add a great flavor.

Total Time: 40 minutes (20 prep, 20 cook)

Jump to Recipe

Intro

Initial Inspiration

There’s an amazing Italian restaurant in Pasadena, California called Gale’s that my family likes to take my great-aunt to for lunch when I visit. It’s not too far from where she lives, so I think that’s why we know about it.

While my favorite dish there is their portobello ravioli, but my fiancée fell in love with their scampi linguini, particularly with the kalamata olives they add to theirs. So when I asked her what new thing she’d like me to cook for her, she asked me to try and recreate Gale’s scampi linguini.

Research

I’d never cooked shrimp scampi before, but I’d heard it was one of the easier pasta dishes to make. So I searched and compared several different recipes to find one that seemed the most similar to what I was looking to recreate.

Finally I found this one from Allrecipes which seemed like a good starting point. The main things I would add to this would be kalamata olives, rapini (broccoli rabe, or the leafy greens), and sundried tomatoes (though I did forget to buy these for my first cook-through).

This has become my fiancée’s favorite thing that I cook for her now, unseating the previous champion: pad see ew. I guess she has a thing for noodles.

Brief History

Scampi is a traditional Italian method of preparing crustaceans, though the term has since gone on to mean different things in different parts of the world. It entered the Italian-American culinary canon, most commonly being sautéed with garlic, butter, dry white wine, and cheese. I didn’t add cheese to mine, but I probably should in the future.

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

1 lb. Shrimp, peeled and de-veined
- If frozen, thaw the shrimp beforehand to make your life easier. I didn’t, so later in the post I’ll show how to fix this if you forget.
16oz package Linguine, or similar pasta

Aromatics

2 Tbsp Butter, for aromatics and shrimp
2 Tbsp Oil, for aromatics and shrimp
2 Shallots, diced
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Pepper Flakes

Finishing Touches / Sauce

½ cup Dry White Wine
- I used chardonnay for this
Juice of one Lemon
Another 2 Tbsp Butter (if needed), for finishing
Another 2 Tbsp Oil (if needed), for finishing
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Herbs, Greens, and Garnishes

2 – 4 Tbsp Parsley, chopped
About 4 handfuls chopped Rapini / Broccoli Rabe, sautéed until reduced in volume by a lot
- Broccoli Rabe is the leafy portion of broccoli, so the easiest version of it to find is Gai Lan or Chinese broccoli.
- Alternatively, use Baby Spinach and be easier on yourself.
½ to 1 cup Kalamata Olives, pit-less
½ cup Sundried Tomatoes (which I forgot)

Equipment

Pot for boiling pasta
Large skillet for sautéing everything

How to Fix a Sauce That Won’t Emulsify (a.k.a. What to Do if You Forget to Thaw Your Shrimp)

First off, just thaw your shrimp and your life will be easier. However, I decided I wanted to include this note because I think it’s still a very useful technique when dealing with pasta and sauces.

I didn’t thaw my shrimp. This meant that when I cooked it, a lot more moisture was introduced to my sautéed goodies than I really wanted. When I added the linguine to the rest of the food to toss, the too-watery sauce wouldn’t stick to the pasta at all.

Luckily, I watch way too much YouTube cooking channels.

What you want to do here is add a little of your starchy reserved pasta water at a time while stirring. Eventually, your sauce should emulsify with the starchy water and begin sticking to your pasta and other ingredients.

Once you can scrape the bottom of the skillet and have a trail form behind in the sauce, you’re good.

But yeah, just thaw your shrimp and your life will be a lot easier. You might still need a little pasta water to make a nice sauce, but you won’t need as much as I did.

Written Instructions

Total Time: 40 minutes (20 prep, 20 cook)

Prepping Pasta Water

Start by boiling and salting water to cook your pasta. Later on in the recipe, once the water is boiling, you’ll cook according to package directions, perhaps removing from the heat a minute or two earlier for a more al dente pasta. Reserve the pasta water to emulsify sauce later.

Prepping Aromatics, Veggies, and Liquids

While you wait for your pasta water to boil, prep your aromatics and veggies.

The shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes all go in at the same time, so I put them in the same bowl.

Dice your shallots and mince or crush your garlic cloves, then set them aside together in a bowl with red pepper flakes.

Next, chop your parsley and set aside, then finally pull the leafy portions off the rapini stalks and give them a rough chop.

Next, preheat a skillet and add some oil. Add a little salt to the oil, then add all your rapini or gai lan (or baby spinach) and cook until the volume reduces by a lot. If you’ve ever sautéed baby spinach before, you’ll know what to do here. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Finally, measure out ½ cup of dry white wine such as chardonnay, then squeeze the juice of one lemon into it.

Cooking Aromatics & Shrimp

Add 2 Tbsp each of butter and oil to the skillet. Once the butter is melted, add the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook until softened.

Next, add your (hopefully thawed) shrimp and cook until pink, flipping over after a few minutes. A general rule of thumb is that when the shrimp are C-shaped they’re cooked, and if they get to be O-shaped they’re overcooked.

Remove shrimp from skillet and set aside.

Cook Pasta & Finish Dish

By this stage, my pasta water was finally boiling, so I added the linguine and cooked per package directions. I think mine said something between 9 – 12 minutes, but I don’t remember for sure.

I removed all the aromatics along with the shrimp before this because I wasn’t paying attention, but that’s fine. Either way, cook the wine and lemon juice.

Add another 2 Tbsp each of butter and oil to the skillet, then pour in the wine and lemon juice.

Add the shrimp (and aromatics, if needed) back into the pan and turn the heat to low.

Add the shrimp back in, then the cooked pasta. Stir and see if you have enough starch to form an emulsified sauce; add a little more pasta water at a time and stir until it comes together.

Add the olives, parsley, and sundried tomatoes at any point now.

At this point you can add the chopped parsley, kalamata olives, and sundried tomatoes, then stir them in. Add the sautéed rapini at plating, then serve your finished shrimp scampi and enjoy.