This is a very, very quick dinner that can be prepared in about 15 minutes. Start your pasta water first, and then chop the garlic and parsley. By the time you get all the ingredients together, the water is boiling. You will be eating in another 10 minutes.

One warning, this is quite heavy on the garlic. You can always use less, but I personally love the strong garlic flavor. However, if you’ve got a hot date later, I might save this recipe for a different night!

Shrimp Scampi Recipe

3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red-pepper flakes
1/2 c dry white wine
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb linguine
1/2 c chopped parsley
1 tsp parmesan cheese, grated

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until just tender. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.

2. When pasta is about halfway through cooking, heat oil in a 12-inch heavy saute pan over high heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté shrimp, turning one time, until just cooked through, about 2 minutes, and transfer to a large bowl. If there is not much oil left in the saute pan, add another tablespoon of oil.

3. Add garlic and red pepper flakes to saute pan and cook for 30 seconds. Add wine, lemon juice, salt and pepper and cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Add butter to skillet, stirring until melted, and stir in shrimp. Remove skillet from heat and stir in parsley.

4. Toss pasta well with shrimp scampi in a large bowl, adding some of pasta water if necessary to moisten the pasta. Sprinkle pasta with a little parmesan on the plate.

Makes 4 Servings