Keeping Vampires at Bay

Well.. that cute little Edward Cullens I wouldn't want to keep away... but for the rest of them, here's a simple and elegant meal, ready in no-time flat. It will knock your socks off while warding away vampires. Guaranteed...there's enough garlic here to do it.

My family gave this a 5-star rating...

Okay... so does this recipe make a small portion? No... I decided I had to blog about this delish recipe after we started to serve it up. So, forgive me as the picture was a bit late in the process!

This was really simple to put together. I often don't use recipes. Most of the time I conjure up my own ingredients and measurements and go from there.

How good was it? I closed my eyes and imagined I was sitting at a small cafe near the ocean enjoying this and a glass of crisp pinot grigio. And, it worked!

Scampi Skewers with Pasta

(Serves 3-4)

30-40 small shrimp (allow about 10 shrimp per person)

For the marinade:

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 T. of lemon juice

2 tsp. of red pepper flakes

Kosher salt, to taste (I used a teaspoon)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I used 1/2 teaspoon)

Whisk all of the above. Place skewered shrimp in an 9x13" dish and pour marinade over shrimp. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate for one hour. 

For the sauce:

1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 stick of butter
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves, chopped

In a small saute pan, over low heat, combine olive oil and butter until melted. Add red pepper flakes and allow to heat through. Add garlic being sure that heat is low so the garlic doesn't burn. Once I had the shrimp on the grill, I added the remaining marinade to my sauce and kept it warm until the pasta and shrimp were cooked and ready to serve.

Cook pasta according to package directions (I used 3/4 of a pound for three of us). Meanwhile, grill shrimp skewers over medium heat on bbq grill (or broil in oven) for about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from heat.

For serving:
In a large pasta bowl, toss pasta and sauce and top with chopped parsley. Arrange skewered shrimp. Serve with grated parmesan or romano cheese, a crusty French baguette and a delish Pinot Grigio.

'til next time, bon appetit!!