My goal is to serve seafood once (or even twice) a week, but it requires me to get to Whole Foods or the fish market the day of … and life seems to get in the way of that.  I do think extra large raw frozen shrimp is great to have on hand for a last-minute dinner.  After all, many times when I buy raw shrimp, it’s already been previously frozen anyway.  I simply defrost it in a bowl filled with slightly cool water in the sink, peel and devein it … and I’m ready for our recipe!  This one is nice and simple and tastes great.

Shrimp Scampi

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 pound uncooked orzo

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

7 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp

2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and olive oil; cover and keep warm.

2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.

3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.

4. Toss shrimp and butter-lemon sauce with orzo and serve.