Simple and tasty is the best way to describe this dish. Since the shrimp are the star here, make sure you get good quality extra large or jumbo shrimp. It is even better if you can find the shrimp already peeled and deveined but with the tails still on.
This dish does double duty as an appetizer or an entrée. For an appetizer be sure to serve it with some good crusty bread as you don’t want the delicious rosemary and garlic sauce to go to waste. For an entrée, it goes nicely served over rice or pasta.
The ingredients are similar to what you find in a traditional American shrimp scampi recipe. I say American as ‘scampi’ are really langoustines which are tiny lobster-like crustaceans. Italian cooks came to America and replaced ‘scampi’ with shrimp and used both names. Like this dish, scampi is usually a butter sauce with lots of garlic. This recipe calls for both of those but adds to it rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon (zest, juice and sliced) and white wine.
The key to cooking the shrimp properly is to make sure they are in a single layer in the pan. There’s no tossing or stirring like you’d do if the pan were on top of the stove. You want to make sure that the shrimp cook long enough to turn pink but don’t let them go too long as they will get rubbery.
Looking for an alternative to shrimp cocktail? Roast up a pan of these shrimp and I’m pretty sure you (and your family and friends) will be looking for more.
| Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Shrimp | | Print |
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (~ 6 to 8 cloves)
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 large lemon, sliced in rounds (6 to 7 rounds)
- 1-1/2 pounds extra large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
- For serving: crusty bread, rice or pasta
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a medium (10-inch) sauté pan or skillet, melt butter over low heat.
- Add olive oil, garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Stir and cook over low heat for one minute.
- Remove from heat and stir in white wine and zest from one lemon. Squeeze juice from this lemon and reserve.
- Slice second lemon in rounds and arrange in one layer on bottom of a large (12-inch) round ovenproof sauté pan (or similarly sized baking dish).
- Arrange shrimp snugly in one layer with only the tails overlapping on top of lemon slices. Pour butter mixture over shrimp.
- Roast for 12 to 15 minutes in oven, just until the shrimp are firm, pink, and cooked through.
- Pour reserved lemon juice over cooked shrimp. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Serve hot with crusty bread, rich or pasta.
Source: Adapted from Ina Garten’s Make It Ahead (2014)
This is delicious and simple. I served it last night with a salad (greens from my garden) and a nice crusty olive bread (from our local baker). The only change I would make is perhaps a little less lemon juice when finishing the dish, perhaps a drizzle of olive oil if you desire more yummy juice for dipping.
Susie – I am so glad you liked it! Great suggestions – you can never go wrong with a bit more olive oil.