Perfect Pairing: Rosé Wine with a Buttery Shrimp Scampi
The recipes and photography for this post were provided by local blogger, Sally Roeckell of 365 Barrington.
There’s no denying that it is rosé season. It’s hard to miss the social media frenzy that surrounds this wine with its sweet crisp flavor and its beautiful blush hue of pink. It’s easy to put a summer spin on any weeknight meal by cooking with rosé. When cooking with rosé, I recommend that you choose one that is on the drier side. This way it won’t add extra sweetness to a dish where it isn’t wanted. You can use rose to deglaze the crispy bits from a pan to create a sauce. Use it to sauté chicken, shrimp or vegetables. Add it to your pot just before steaming shell fish, especially mussels. One of my favorite ways to use rosé is to use it to make a Mignonette for oysters on the half shell. And, of course one of Instagram’s favorite obsessions with rosé is to freeze it alone or with fruit to make a slush for cocktails, or simply drink it in a light refreshing sangria.
Important note about this recipe: This is not a recipe for rule followers. You’ll see I have no measure for olive oil or salt. The garlic and butter measurements are approximate. Even the shrimp, use one to two pounds depending on your crowd and if it will be the main course with bread or if you’ll be serving it with linguini. I will give you the instructions based on how I make this dish. I’ve been making it for years, a lot of years. The pasta recipe is a basic recipe that any good chef will have in their line up. It’s what my Chef friends make as comfort food and its is a dish my kids grew up on. It was even featured in the movie Chef with Jon Favreau and Scarlett Johansson. Now make it yours and add it to your line up.
Rosé Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients:
- 1 pound shrimp, cleaned and deveined with tail left on
- Olive oil
- Sea salt or kosher salt
- 4 cloves Minced garlic
- 1 lime
- 1-2 cups Rose
- Optional, 2 Tbs red harissa prepared (not powder)
- 4 Tbs Butter
- 1/4 cup Fresh chopped parsley
- Thick sliced sourdough bread (Buy a whole loaf and slice it yourself, thick!)
- Or 1 lb linguini
For the pasta:
- 8oz chunk of parmesan cheese
- 1 lemon
- 6 cloves fresh garlic
- 3/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
- Sea salt
- 2 Tbs butter
Method
While the shrimps are cooking prepare your toast or pasta, see instructions below.
- I like to prepare this dish in a HOT oven or grill. Wood burning is ideal as it will infuse an amazing flavor but most kitchens are sadly not equip with wood burning ovens. Turn your grill on HI 500-600 degrees if possible. I use a cast iron pan but any oven safe sauté pan will do. Start by putting your pan on the grill with the lid down to get it very hot.
- Add shrimp to the sauté pan in a single layer. Use two pans if needed to not crowd the shrimp.
- Add olive oil to coat and toss shrimp in the pan add salt. About 1 tsp. Put pan back into the hot oven or grill for 1 to 2 minutes. Take out toss the shrimp put back in for one more minute, then add garlic and toss again. Allow shrimp to cook one more minute, watch the garlic, you want it to toast but not burn. Add a squeeze of fresh lime and the rose, toss.
- Cook for approximately two minutes. If using Harissa to add a little heat add this now, toss again, also add butter 1 generous tablespoon 2 if you want it to be really spectacular. (I never claimed this recipe was going to be low-calorie but I do promise you it will be delicious).
- Place the pan back in the hot oven for one more minute. Remove pan, Toss with chopped parsley. Plate this dish in individual serving bowls. Spoon shrimp onto either Bread or pasta and spoon sauce over. Enjoy.
Serving over toast:
- You could simply toast the bread. But if you want an outrageously delicious vehicle for those shrimps and their sauce do this… Butter liberally one side of the toast.
- Add another spoon of butter into a HOT sauté pan. Place the bread butter side up in the pan.
- When the bread starts to caramelize on one side, turn it and brown the other side, think grilled cheese sandwich, good grilled cheese, not kiddie menu grilled cheese. That’s the look you’re going for.
- Place the toast in the bottom of a bowl and top with shrimp and spoon on extra sauce.
Serving over Linguini: You could simply boil your linguini according to the package and serve it that way. But if you want to really make your family dance do this…Boil your pasta until it is al dente. Be sure to liberally salt the pasta water. Please do not over cook it. It should actually be slightly under done. Before you pour the Pasta into the strainer take out about 2 cups of the pasta water and set aside. In a large sauté pan add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the sliced garlic. Bring it to a medium heat slowly browning the garlic. When it is starting to look like it’s browning remove from heat. This happens quickly, stay with it, do not let it burn. Add the drained pasta to the pan, quickly toss with about 1cup of pasta water and the chopped parsley. Add salt to taste. Add butter and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. toss, add more Parmesan cheese. If the pasta is dry add more paste water. Serve immediately.
Perfect Pairing: Rosé Wine with a Buttery Shrimp Scampi
