Shrimp Scampi

Have you ever had such an intense week at work that you go into a manic frenzy at 4:59 on Friday afternoon because you still have a lot of work to do, and you want to get it finished so you don't end up still sitting at your desk working at 8:00? Gah!~ That was me this week. Driving home, all I could think about was how I couldn't wait to pour a nice glass of wine and make a fabulous tasting dinner. But I was short on time from working late. So I came up with the idea of Shrimp Scampi! Easy, fast and bursting with flavour. And just that little bit decadent enough to reward myself for working so hard. (I adore rewarding myself for every little thing!) My employer definitely got their money's worth out of me this week! So I'm going to take that paycheque and make it worth my while too!

 For this recipe you'll need:
4 - 5 colossal raw shrimp per person
about 1/3 cup of olive oil, or a bit less if you're cooking for 2
1 spring of fresh thyme, remove the stem and just use the leaves
4 large cloves of chopped garlic

And for the sauce:
1 finely chopped shallot
3 tablespoons of capers
juice and zest of a lemon
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of butter
salt and freshly ground pepper

Saute the shrimp on Medium high heat in the olive oil, thyme and garlic. Flip them after a few minutes. Don't let them over cook. Remove them from the heat when they turn pink and scrape all the contents into a bowl and set aside.
Melt the butter in the same pan over medium heat and saute the shallots just until they're soft. Add the capers, wine and lemon zest and juice. Let this simmer until it has reduced by half. Add the shrimp and garlic mixture back into the pan and stir it around for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe only takes literally minutes to prepare. You can serve it with rice or salad or noodles and some fresh sliced baguette. I like to serve it with rice. But that takes longer to cook. So start your shrimp when your rice is about halfway done. This is lightning fast to make, but the taste is full and robust, so it's fine for a  special meal on the weekend too! Team it up with a steak on the barbeque and you have Surf and Turf. Enjoy!