Vito's Shrimp Scampi Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Shrimp

by: Max McDonough

June10,2021

4.3

20 Ratings

Vito's Shrimp Scampi Recipe on Food52 (1)

Cook time 30 minutes
Serves 4

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Author Notes

This recipe is one of a dozen from my father's server days: "Vito's Shrimp Scampi," which isn’t really a scampi but a roasted garlic cream sauce that blushes pink with chopped tomatoes served over linguini—simple enough to wing, and really, really good. —Max McDonough

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: . —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

Olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¹/₄ cupwhite wine
2 cupsheavy cream
2 tablespoonssalted butter
¹/₂ cuplemon juice, plus more to taste
1 poundjumbo shrimp (16/20 count)
1 to 2 medium, vine-ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 poundlinguine
¹/₂ cupfinely grated Parmesan, for serving
¹/₂ cupfresh basil, roughly chopped

Directions

In a large, high-sided skillet, sauté the garlic in a little olive oil until lightly toasted. Deglaze pan with white wine. Add heavy cream and butter, and reduce by half. Off the heat, slowly add the lemon juice.
In a separate pan, heat some more olive oil. Season shrimp with salt and pepper, then sauté until 80% cooked. Add tomatoes and season with a little more salt and pepper. Incorporate shrimp and tomatoes into sauce and toss.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Cook linguine until al dente, drain, and toss with the sauce. Plate the pasta, making sure there's shrimp on each plate. Garnish with cheese and basil.
My father suggests a light pinot noir or heavy chardonnay to accompany this dish.

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12 Reviews

Baker23 May 29, 2022

Found this recipe while in Rosemary Beach after purchasing some very nice Royal Red shrimp. Excellent and very easy dish. We all loved it.

James H. March 26, 2022

This was dinner last night and it as outstanding. Made minor adjustments. I substituted some 1/2 the white wine and lemon juice with some shrimp stock I made with the shells from the shrimp. Other then that kept everything the same and it was delish. It makes a ton of sauce btw, even when you reduce it. I saved the leftover sauce and will dipping bread this evening>

Max M. March 26, 2022

Love to hear this!!

Joanie February 21, 2022

Made this for Valentine’s Day and it was superb. Only had one cup of cream so used 1 cup of milk instead of running to store. It was rich and delicious! Making again tonight as my son is coming over! A must try!

Max M. March 26, 2022

Smokins November 4, 2020

Wow. Super amazing and made very quickly. The wife and I were wondering at 5:00 what to make for dinner. A quick consult with Food 52 and ingredients on hand rendered this little gem. Frozen to slightly pink shrimp in 20 minutes was super easy. The garlic, cream and white wine (had a dash or 2 myself, thanks very much) is amazing. We used spaghetti in lieu of the linguini, no biggie. The kids chowed hard and asked for more. The wife thought I was a super chef. It’s got the vote for a regular dinner rotation on the magnitude of Taco Tuesday. Loved it. Thanks much!!!

Max M. March 26, 2022

This is wonderful to hear! I'm glad you loved it.

Texas E. May 5, 2019

I had to make this after reading the wonderfully written story accompanying the recipe. The resulting dish was excellent. The lemon juice lightened up the cream sauce perfectly, and contributed to a creamy, tangy, sauce. The recipe came together quite quickly as well. Thanks for the great story and recipe.

Paula A. February 22, 2020

Hi Texas. How did you know when the shrimp was 80% done? I'm a seafood amateur in the kitchen- I'm always afraid of overcooking it.

Texas E. February 22, 2020

I'm certainly not a trained chef, but a good guess is when the shrimp begin to curl up and turn pink.
If you find they are underdone when the dish is finished, you Can just leave them on the heat a bit more after you add the pasta. Good luck!

Paula A. February 23, 2020

Thanks. :)

Max M. March 26, 2022

Amen :)