What exactly is a Scampi? According to Seaffod Experts website;
Scampi is a type of lobster and is one of the world’s finest delicacies. There are, however, other species frequently referred to as scampi. For example, in the Midwest region of the US freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium Rosenbergii) are referred to as scampi. So again, what exactly is scampi?
Is scampi a crawfish? Is scampi a crayfish? No, scampi are small clawed lobsters that unfortunately look a little bit like a crawfish. But they definitely shouldn’t be confused with the freshwater crawfish, which is primarily from the Gulf of Mexico and China. Crayfish is another name used for spiny lobster, and if that’s not confusing enough, in the southern US crawfish is called crayfish!.
“Scampi” is actually the tail of the “Nephrops Norvegicus” which is more commonly known as the Norway Lobster, Dublin Bay Prawn (although its not a prawn!) or langoustine. According to Wikipedia, the Nephrops Norvegicus is an orange pink lobster that grows up to 25cm in length and is typically found in the North East Atlantic, the North Sea and parts of the Med.
In short, Scampi is not how the dish is cooked, it’s actually a small clawed lobster that looks like a crayfish. But I bet you when you hear the word scampi you’d think of shrimps cooked in butter, white wine, lemon juice, with some sort of pasta, either spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine noodles. Now that you know what a Scampi really is coz it certainly doesn’t hurt to know food trivia sometimes, let’s cook shrimp scampi with fettuccine coz that’s what we’re familiar with.
| Shrimp Scampi W/ Fettuccine |
- 1 bag of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- half a box of fettuccine, cooked al dente
- 1 stick of butter
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- 1 sm onion, chopped finely
- 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup of white wine
- sprinkle of salt and pepper
- a little bit of pasta water
- red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (+ more)
- chopped parsley for garnish
- Cook the pasta.
- Melt butter in a saute pan. Add the garlic and onions to cook for a couple of minutes or so. Add the shrimp, lemon juice, and white wine. Sprinkle a little bit of red pepper flakes for a kick. This is optional of course. Stir everything together and cook for 12 to 15 minutes or so.
- Add the cooked pasta into the pan. Add a little bit of pasta water and more butter into the pan if you prefer it to be saucy. Sprinkle salt and pepper, then stir in grated Parmesan cheese.
- Serve in a plate. Sprinkle more grated Parmesan cheese and garnish with chopped parsley.
