August 27: Grilled Shrimp Scampi on Angel Hair Pasta

   Coarse salt
1 pound angel hair pasta
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
   Coarse black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
24 medium-size raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
   Zest and juice of 1 lemon
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Preheat a grill pan or outdoor grill on high.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil. Salt the water and cook the angel hair pasta until al dente (with a bite). Heads up: You will be using a couple of ladles of cooking water before draining the pasta.

While the pasta cooks, in a bowl combine the garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and the EVOO. Place half of the garlic mixture with the shrimp in another bowl and toss to coat evenly.

Transfer the shrimp to the hot grill and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until the shrimp are firm and opaque.

While the shrimp are grilling, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the reserved garlic mixture and the red pepper flakes; cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the garlic is lightly golden brown.

Add the wine to the skillet and cook for 1 minute, then add 2 ladles of the pasta cooking water and the lemon zest and juice and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the grilled shrimp, toss to coat,

add the drained angel hair pasta, and toss to coat again. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Divide the pasta and shrimp among 4 serving plates.

4 SERVINGS

This is a master recipe with 2 variations. After these 3 recipes comes another angel hair pasta master recipe with 2 variations, so I am going to alter them every day, but it will still be angel hair for 6 days straight! Good thing I like angel hair :). I also decided to only make 1/2 of each recipe so we wouldn't be eating angel hair for every meal, just dinners. This one was very good. I tried to cut back on the oil, but didn't make much of a dent in the fat with all that butter in there. Next time I will cut back on the butter some. I'm sure it's the fat that makes it taste so good :). My girls eat these spaghetti recipes up, so they will like this week! I didn't change anything in the recipe.

RR's tidbit is: "If the fish folks at your market won't peel and tail the shrimp for you, ask for 'easy-peels' (deveined raw shrimp in the shell) and just slide the shells off when you bring them home from the market."