Shrimp Scampi a la Ina!

Ina Garten, you are my hero. Last week, I wanted to make shrimp scampi for dinner. I was heading to the grocery store in a few minutes and instead of pulling together my own recipe, I quickly wrote down the ingredients for the Barefoot Contessa's Linguine with Shrimp Scampi. Happy I did. It was fast, delicious and had me wanting more.

{not my image ... but you get the point}

To make it, you'll need:

• 3/4 lb. linguine
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1b. of shrimp (approx. 16), peeled and deveined
• Sea salt & fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 lemon zested
• 1/4 of a lemon cut into thin rounds
• 1/3 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• Hot red pepper flakes

Directions:

• Begin making pasta per the directions on the bag
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and combine with the olive oil
• Add the garlic to the pan and cook for one minute. Be careful - garlic is easy to burn!
• Add the shrimp and desired salt & pepper and cook for 5 minutes until pink
• Remove from heat and toss with parsley, lemon ingredients and red pepper flakes
• Pour over linguine and voila; shrimp scampi for three is done!

I can't complain about this recipe. To make it my own, I might add some shallots and a splash of dry white wine next time. But it is pretty darn close to perfection as is...

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