(Recipe can be found on Cooking Light’s site here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
I love when a dish comes together in no time, and this Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi does just that. Here’s what you’ll need: Salt & Pepper, 1 cup of uncooked Orzo, the juice of a Lemon, about 3 tablespoons of unsalted Butter, about 4 Garlic Cloves, 1.5 pounds of raw, peeled, deveined jumbo shrimp (I buy it frozen since I don’t live near a coast), and Fresh Parsley (about 2 tablespoons chopped).
While I got a pot of water boiling and worked on thawing out the shrimp, I chopped up some parsley until I had 2 tablespoons.
Then I chopped up enough garlic to make about 2 teaspoons. It was about 4 cloves for me. Often I’ll go with jarred, minced garlic as a time saver, but since there weren’t many ingredients and the garlic adds much of the dish’s flavor, I went with freshly minced garlic this time.
In went the orzo, which I cooked according to the package’s instructions.
I heated a sauce pan over medium high heat and melted 1 tablespoon of butter.
Then I put half of the shrimp in the pan and let them cook for about 2 minutes until they were nearly fully cooked. Then I moved the shrimp to a plate and did the same with a second tablespoon of butter and cooked the second batch of shrimp.
Once the orzo was cooked, I drained it and then combined the pasta with the chopped parsley and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover up the mixture so it stays warm until you’re ready for it.
Melt the final tablespoon of butter.
Add the minced garlic and cook it for about 30 seconds.
Then add the shrimp back to the pan along with 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper. Next time I’ll add the orzo to the shrimp just so the orzo has a bit more flavor. Then serve it up. This was light, surprisingly flavorful, and quite filling main dish. Gotta love that! Happy cooking!
Makes 4 Servings
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked orzo
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
7 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp $
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice $
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation Instructions:
1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.
2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.
3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.
Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
Calories: 403
Fat: 10.4g
Saturated fat: 4.8g
Monounsaturated fat: 2.2g
Polyunsaturated fat: 1.4g
Protein: 40.1g
Carbohydrate: 34.7g
Fiber: 1.7g
Cholesterol: 276mg
Iron: 4.3mg
Sodium: 549mg
Calcium: 97mg
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