30 Minute Shrimp Scampi + Linguine

I don't know about y'all but I know about me (at least my therapist says I have a good sense of self) and I *actually* live for seafood. Beau does too but for some reason my subtle hints that we should spend all of our money on seafood towers and those cute miniature forks and an endless supply of freshly shucked oysters have fallen upon deaf ears. This is obviously an unhappy relationship please send help.

Anyway, when we got a Food.com assignment this week that included quite a few seafood dishes I legitimately did that gay hand-covering-mouth-while-gasping-dramatically thing that we all did when Hillary lost the election - but this time with joy. Sidenote: If you didn't know, part of what Beau and I do is make, test, and photograph home cooks' recipes from Food.com to be displayed on that site. You can find out more about other stuff we do (besides being thots on Instagram) here.

We're currently getting ready for summer backyard festivities - you can see proof of our short shorts here - which means we're about to be making big batches of our favorite margarita recipe and scouring the internets for things that we can grill. We actually just got our first ever stove top griddle and are gonna go HARD with the grill marks this summer so please ready yourselves. Alrighty, we're gonna go finish putting together this week's newsletter and rumor has it there's a fancy steak dinner happening tonight courtesy of Beau's dad. See ya - check out the recipe and some helpful notes below! 

30 Minute Shrimp Scampi

serves 4

So first things first, this can be done easily in 30 minutes and it's gonna be delicious - but, if you've got an hour on hand, we recommend that before you even start this recipe you pat dry your shrimp with a paper towel, skewer them, brush with the olive oil mixture (instructions below) and salt, and rest on top of a bowl so that the shrimp are floating in mid-air so that there's airflow all around the shrimp (see photos above for reference). Then, you're gonna put the bowl with the shrimp in the fridge for half an hour. This process of chilling helps the surface of the shrimp dry out a bit while keeping the inside moist, meaning that you'll get a better char when they're placed on the hot grill - resulting in plump shrimp with beautiful grill marks!

Next, skewering! We use a double skewer situation (see above for reference) so that the shrimp don't spin around on the skewer when you flip them. We skewer our shrimp snugly against each other and leave no room between the shrimp. This helps keep the internal temperature of the shrimp down, buying us more time for the surface of the shrimp to char while not letting the shrimp quickly overcook and become rubbery. Also, especially if you're using an open flame grill, it's best to soak your skewers (a brownie pan full of water will do) for about half an hour before grilling - this ensures your wooden skewers don't burn to a crisp on the grill. This step is a bit less important for a stove-top griddle that doesn't have actual fire flowing up to the skewers.

Shrimp Scampi

  • 1 pound of 26/30 size peeled, deveined shrimp (tails on or off depending on preference)
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons minced parsley
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic
  • Salt + pepper

Linguine

  • 1 pound package dried linguine
  • 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (from jar packed in oil)
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup minced parsley + extra for garnish
  1. Cook linguine according to instructions on package. Strain and set aside. To save on time, have this cooking while you make the shrimp so that it's finished right around when the shrimp come off the grill.
  2. While the linguine cooks, bring your grill (gas, charcoal, or stovetop griddle) to extremely high heat. We're tryna get a good sear here! 
  3. Skewer the shrimp (see notes above) and set aside. Mix together the 1/3 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons parsley, and 2 cloves garlic in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush it evenly over the shrimp, coating both sides and finishing with a hefty sprinkle of salt and pepper. See notes above for how to make this dish even more dope by letting the shrimo chill for a bit!
  4. Place the shrimp skewers directly on your grill, giving one good press with tongs and letting cook for about two or three minutes before flipping and repeating. You're looking for the shrimp to be bright pink, plump, and covered in char marks. Remove the skewers from the grill and set aside.
  5. In a large mixing bowl combine the sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, and parsley. Toss in the pasta and give a few tosses with tongs to coat the noodles. Slide the shrimp off of the skewers into the linguine and give a few tosses. Serve immediately. 

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Recipe based on this one from Food.com.

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