Clean Shrimp Scampi

This is one of my favorite recipes.  I love it for so many reasons!  First, it feels fancy.  Like something you would order out at a restaurant.  Second, it's so easy, which I think is a plus in everyone's book.  Then, it's actually pretty cheap; you can make the whole recipe for less than what you would pay at that fancy-dancy restaurant.  Also, it only takes about 20 minutes, so you can even make it on a weeknight.  And finally, the best reason: YUM!

Note:  Please ignore my novice photography; I'm working on it!

*This recipe has been adapted from a recipe from The Gracious Pantry.

You will need:
12 oz frozen shrimp
Zest of three lemons
Juice of three lemons
1/2 c. water
3 T dried parsley
2 T garlic powder
1 T whole wheat flour
1/2 t. olive oil
1 lb whole grain pasta

A couple of things about the frozen shrimp:  you can buy pretty much any kind.  I've used salad shrimp; the larger shrimp, uncooked, peeled, deveined, tails on; the larger shrimp, cooked, peeled, deviened, tails on; whatever.  It all works; it just really does need to be frozen.  Personally, I prefer the larger shrimp.  Unless I wanted to pay $25 per pound for them, I couldn't find them without tails, but it really doesn't matter much.  You can cut off the tails before you cook them, but I just pull them off while I'm eating the pasta; it's not really a big deal.  The original recipe called for a pound of shrimp, but for some reason, I can only find frozen shrimp in 12 oz packages, but that seems to work just fine for me and my handsome husband.  We usually get three servings out of this dish.
You can go really high-end on this dish, if you like - shrimp can be expensive!  Or you can do what I do and go to Aldi and buy the 12 oz package for $6.99.  I'll leave that up to you.

Anyway, you probably would like for me to get  to the directions:

1.  Fill a large pot with water, and heat to boiling.  Cook pasta according to the package directions.
2.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  When pan is hot, add frozen shrimp.  Cook them until the are mostly cooked if raw, or thawed if cooked.  The glazing of ice on the shrimp should produce a liquid in the pan, which will serve as the base for your sauce.
3.  Add lemon zest and juice, water, parsley, and garlic powder.  Reduce heat to a simmer.
4.  As the sauce begins to bubble, you can start to thicken your sauce.  In order to keep the flour from clumping in your sauce, use this trick I learned from my grandmother:

• Spoon a little of the sauce from the pan into a small bowl.
• Add the whole wheat flour to the sauce in the bowl
• Whisk with a form until the flour is blended and there are no clumps
• Add the contents of the small bowl back into the pan

5.  Allow the sauce and the shrimp to simmer a few minutes on low to get rid of the raw flour taste.

6.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

7.  Drain the pasta.

8.  I use 1 c. of pasta and about 4 oz of shrimp and sauce.  If you want it to feel really special, top it with some freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.

I serve this with a green salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.  It is really delicious, and the leftovers (if there are any!) are great for lunch the next day.

Bon appetit!

Stay FIERCE!