Shrimp Scampi

Tomorrow is National Shrimp Day, so in honor of the occasion, I'm sharing my favorite simple shrimp dish, shrimp scampi.

Even if you're not really into shrimp, I urge you give scampi a try. The shrimp are simply cooked and served with a garlicky butter sauce flecked with parsley and a touch of vermouth. If you're doing this right, you also serve the scampi with a few slices of good crusty bread for soaking up said garlicky butter sauce. That's really the best part of this dish.

That crusty bread pictured above is really amazing. It's the Palladin bread from my neighborhood's new bakery, Bread Furst, that I bought Tuesday, the first day they opened.

Raw peeled, deveined shrimp (tails removed).

The shrimp came from Whole Foods and already had the tails removed, although you could make this with shrimp that still have their tails. They should be peeled and deveined though, a process that unfortunately I can't help you with. It seems like it would take awhile, so I think it's worth it to buy the shrimp already prepped, especially if you want to make this a quick dinner, which it definitely is.

Nodding to another great, similar shrimp dish, Spanish garlic shrimp, I put lots of garlic in my scampi and a pinch of red chili pepper flakes.

Shrimp Scampi

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. peeled, de-veined large shrimp (with or without their tails)
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes
1 tbsp. dry vermouth
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
Crusty bread (for serving)

1. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over moderate heat (a bit above medium). Add shrimp and cook until they turn opaque with orange-pink edges, about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally and flipping the shrimp halfway through. Remove shrimp from pan.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add butter. When melted, add garlic and chili pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vermouth, lemon juice and parsley. Add back the cooked shrimp and stir to coat with sauce. Serve the shrimp with the sauce in shallow bowls with slices of the crusty bread.