photo by Alejandro Photography

Liz Della Croce, of TheLemonBowl.com, makes a killer shrimp scampi. Whether you make it with real-deal pasta or go lighter with zoodles, that scampi sauce is luxurious—silky, garlicky, and even refreshing with lemon zest. But I’ve come to expect nothing less from someone like her, who gives a quality hug and sends a thank you note for my thank you gift. Liz cheers for me like I thought only my mother could, and cooks for me like my mom, too. She has an old school heart in there. So when she told me about her brand new eCookbook, Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner, I knew this book would welcome us readers into her extended Italian family.

That’s exactly what Liz did here. It’s a have-a-seat-at-my-table cookbook. Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner is the first in Liz’s series of eCookbooks documenting the ethnic recipes of childhood, and it has a dozen truly mouthwatering, authentic Italian recipes that she has learned from her husband’s Italian family like this Shrimp Scampi with Pasta (or Zoodles), Eggplant Parmesan, Pasta e Fagiole, Sunday Gravy and more. Every dish feels like an heirloom—special enough to make over and over for Sunday dinners with my family.

Shrimp Scampi with Pasta or Zoodles

This recipe for “Uncle Vinny’s Shrimp Scampi,” as Liz calls it, is as authentic as can be, with garlicky shrimp and a white wine-butter sauce. If shrimp scampi has seemed intimidating or complicated in the past, let me re-assure you that you’ll only need a handful of ingredients and 15 minutes! Just sauté shrimp in a combination of butter and olive oil with garlic, then add dry white wine to deglaze the pan, followed by lemon juice, lemon zest, and chopped fresh parsley. I know that the butter and olive oil are heavy ingredients, but we’re talking authenticity here–not to mention FLAVOR–and even with both in the recipe, the scampi alone only clocks in at 360 calories. This was one of the reasons I chose to add the option of serving it over zoodles (zucchini noodles). But some Sunday dinners are worthy of real deal shrimp scampi and pasta, know what I mean?

Enjoy!

Order Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner by Liz Della Croce!

Print Recipe

Shrimp Scampi with Pasta or Zoodles

This recipe is as authentic as can be, with garlicky shrimp and a white wine-butter sauce.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: scampi and pasta, scampi and zoodles, shrimp and pasta, shrimp and zoodles

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 360kcal

Author: Andie Mitchell

Ingredients

• 1 pound large raw shrimp peeled and deveined
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• OPTIONAL: 8 ounces dry pasta like spaghetti, linguine, or angel hair OR 4 medium zucchini, spiralized (about 8 ounces each)

Instructions

• *If serving scampi over pasta (optional), boil pasta according to package instructions. If serving scampi over zucchini noodles, spiralize the zucchini.
• *To prepare zoodles (optional): In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add half of the noodles and cook, using tongs to toss occasionally, until the noodles are tender but not mushy, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the noodles to a plate. Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan and repeat the cooking process with the remaining zucchini noodles. Transfer to the plate and lightly tent with foil to keep warm while you prepare the shrimp scampi.
• Rinse the shrimp and pat dry; set aside.
• In a heavy frying pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Lower the heat and add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes
• Raise the heat to high and when oil is hot, add the shrimp. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are pink and opaque, about 3 minutes.
• Add the wine and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 minute to let the alcohol burn off slightly.
• Remove the pan from heat. Add the salt, pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, and chopped parsley.
• Return pan to high heat and cook for a minute or two until butter sauce is slightly thickened.
• Serve the shrimp scampi over your choice of pasta or zucchini noodles.

Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner by Liz Della Croce. Reprinted with permission from the author.

Nutrition Information for Shrimp Scampi alone 

Nutrition Information for 1 serving Shrimp Scampi with 1 serving spaghetti (200-calorie serving of pasta/2 ounces dry weight of pasta):
Calories 560.2, Total Fat 28.5g, Sat Fat 9.5g, Carb 45.3g, Fiber 2.3g, Sugars 1.3g, Protein 30.5g

Nutrition Information for 1 serving Shrimp Scampi with 1 cup zoodles:
Calories 398.8, Total Fat 28.2g, Sat Fat 9.5g, Sodium 772.3mg, Carb 10.4g, Fiber 2.6g, Sugars 6g, Protein 26.2g

Nutrition

Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 3.3g | Protein: 23.5g | Fat: 27.5g | Saturated Fat: 9.5g | Sodium: 754.1mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 0.3g