Shrimp Scampi Pasta with Kalamata Olives
An easy but satisfying Italian-American seafood pasta.
Equipment
- 1 Pot for boiling pasta
- 1 Skillet for sautéing and finishing dish
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 1 lb. Shrimp peeled and de-veined, make sure to thaw
- 16 oz 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 or crushed
- 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Finishing Touches / Sauce
- 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
Herbs, Greens, and Garnishes
- 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
Instructions
- Start by boiling and salting water to cook your pasta.
- While you wait for your pasta water to boil, prep your aromatics and veggies.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.
- Measure out ½ cup of dry white wine such as chardonnay, then squeeze the juice of one lemon into it.
- 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 and set aside.
- By this point, the pasta water should be boiling. Add the linguine and cook per package directions. I think mine said something between 9 – 12 minutes, but I don’t remember for sure.
- Add another 2 Tbsp each of butter and oil to the skillet, then pour in the wine and lemon juice and stir with shallots and garlic.
- 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 thickens and comes together.
- 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 and enjoy.