Spicy Shrimp Scampi with Lemon-Garlic Butter Sauce

When it comes to quick yet elegant seafood pasta, nothing beat’s Spicy Shrimp Scampi with Lemon-Garlic butter sauce. This dish is packed full of flavour, juicy shrimp – tender pasta, fresh garlic, zesty lemon and a hint of spice from red pepper chilli flakes. Best of all? Its ready in under 30 minutes, making it perfect for both busy weeknights and special dinners. 

Whether you serve it with linguine, spaghetti, or tagliatelle, this recipe delivers a restaurant-quality meal- at home – and costs less than in your local Italian restaurant. 

The meal and ingredients:

Ingredients

For the pasta:

1. 400g of fresh tagliatelle. 
2. 1 tsp of olive oil. 
3. Salt, for pasta water. 

For the shrimp:

1. 500g of large shrimp, peeled and deveined. 
2. 2 tsp of olive oil.
3. 1 tsp of smoked paprika 
4. 1 tsp of red chilli flakes. (Adjust to spice preference)
5. Salt & Black pepper to taste. 

For the lemon garlic sauce:

1. 4 tsp of unsalted butter.
2. 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced. 
3. Zest of 1 lemon. 
4. Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste. 
5. 60ml of white wine, or chicken stock. 
6. 2 tbsp of parsley, chopped. 
7. Extra chilli flakes, to taste. 

Method:

Cook the pasta:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil the pasta.  
2. Add tagliatelle to boil until al dente, scooping almost half a cup of pasta water, before draining the remainder. 

Prepare the shrimp:

1. In a bowl, toss shrimp, with olive oil, smoked paprika, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to season. 
2. Heat a large pan over medium to high heat. Sear the shrimp for 1 or 2 minutes to seal in the flavour, once pink then remove and set aside. 

Make the sauce:

1. In the same pan, melt butter. Add garlic, cook for 30 – 60 seconds. (Do not burn it) You just need the aroma from the garlic. 
2. Stir in lemon zest, juice, and white wine, simmer until slightly reduced.

Bring it all together:

1. Add drained tagliatelle, or the pasta used to create this recipe to the pan, with the sauce and toss well. Add pasta water to loosen if required. 
2. Return the shrimp to the pan, sprinkle in parsley and more chilli flakes. Keep tossing until lightly coated and glossy. 

Serve: 

1. Devide onto plates, grate Parmesan over your shrimp and pasta and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing.

Optional:

This recipe works well with a slice or two with garlic bread or a bowl of salad for sharing.