Garlic Shrimp Pasta or Shrimp Scampi is such a Delicious Meal with a Seasoned Lemon Garlicky Butter with White Wine Sauce, Shrimp, and Long Pasta. Garnish it off with Aleppo Chili Flakes & Parsley. Serve it with a side of Garlic Bread.

Shrimp

Pick up 340 g to 1 lb of Raw Shrimp with Shells and deveined. We need the shells to flavor the Oil a bit.

Throw the Shrimp into a bowl with water and peel the shells off, reserving them to be pan fried later on.

Shrimp Doneness

Shrimp cooks up pretty quickly and is easily overcooked, which isn’t hard to do at all. The trick is to watch the color and shape of the shrimp.

Shrimp typically take about 2–5 minutes to cook, depending on the size. In general, look for the Shrimp to turn Pink and a C Shape. The meat should be pink on the outside and white on the inside. No Grey or translucent color.

Don’t overcrowd the pan and ensure each shrimp is in contact with the pan. Set them in to cook for one minute and flip to cook another minute for this recipe. They won’t quite be done, however, when they are added back in they will finish cooking.

C Shape for Cooked

C shape where the shrimp forms a C shape or the head just touches the tail for a tight C is cooked. Remove from the heat at this point or just a tad beforehand, since it will still cook a bit when set aside. The Color should be Pink with no gray or translucency in the meat. When the shrimp is pink with no gray, the shrimp is OK.

O Shape for Overcooked

O shape or a shrimp that is tightly curled up into an O shape is overcooked. Sometimes you can get a tight C which can be mistaken for an O, but the shrimp is fine. If it breaks when straightening out instead of springing back, it’s overcooked. This results in rubbery shrimp.

Long Pasta

Any Pasta can be used such as Bucatini, Spaghetti, Fettuccine, Linguine or others. The pasta is cooked in 8 cups of water. Exactly the same way we do Cacio e Pepe. The water cooks the pasta and the remaining water is reduced with the small amount of Starch concentrated.

After the Pasta is removed, the water is reduced for about 8 minutes over max heat before throwing everything together again to reunite as a Beautiful, Buttery Glorious Shrimp Pasta dish.

Garlic Butter

This is sort of a Maître d’hôtel Butter mixed with JAH Garlic Sauce kind of Garlic Butter and some white wine.

All the ingredients are combined and set aside until we need to fry the Shrimp a bit. Not fully cook it, as it will fully cook when combined with everything else. Just partially cook it and set it aside to extract some flavor.

This is where you can tweak things out as well. If you want less or more Lemon Zest or Garlic. Then do so here. If you want the addition of Herbs & Spices. Add them here. Want a Cajun or Creole Taste then add it here omitting the Herbs & Spices in the recipe. You can shape the flavors all through the butter, with the technique remaining the same.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta Technique

Almost identical to the Cacio e Pepe, we use the starch that is left behind after boiling the Pasta.

First, the Shells are cooked in the Oil to extract that Shrimp Flavor that we want throughout the dish.

The Butter is combined with Lemon Juice, Zest, Garlic, and Herbs & Spices with Butter popcorn seasoning which gives it a buttery mouthfeel.

Then the Shrimp is briefly cooked with Butter and the other ingredients.

Water is added while the shrimp is still in the pan, in effect cooling down the shrimp before removing them and preventing the shrimp from overcooking. Then the water is brought to a boil over max heat.

The Pasta added and cooked for 10 minutes. Then the Pasta is scooped out and set aside, separate from the Shrimp. The water is reduced for about 8 minutes, leaving behind a concentrated sauce with starch.

Then the Shrimp is added back in along with the Pasta and Tossed for about 1 minute. Adjust the seasoning and serve or have Salt & Pepper at the table for your family or guest to add more if desired.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta Add-Ins

For additional add-ins should the mood strike. Add Paprika, Onion, and Bacon Bits. Adjust the seasoning.

If using Bacon. Chop the bacon into small pieces and cook over medium heat until the desired level of crispness. Drain the grease out and reserve for other recipes, and set aside the Bacon to add to the pasta just before serving.

Other Herbs & Spices can be added as desired such as Tarragon, Thyme, Cayenne Pepper, or Chili Powder. Even a bit of Diced Tomatoes & Basil or cream for a Creamy Garlic Shrimp Pasta Dish.