Scamp-ish

Shrimp and lemon goes together like love and marriage. My latest culinary fun was "inventing" a dish that included both of those ingredients in a buttery sauce, without sending our cholesterol readings over the top. Shrimp is high in cholesterol - the bad boy of the seafood world - but it is soooo delicious! 

I'm also into quick, simple, and easy meals, as you clearly know if you are a regular reader, so I didn't want to spend much time. One of the big time savers, of course, is buying frozen peeled and deveined shrimp in the giant economy size bag so those steps are taken care of. And if you start the pasta water while you are cutting the broccoli into bite-size pieces, you have effectively cut your time in the kitchen in half.

All you do, once the ingredients are assembled and the pasta (I used fettuccine) is in the salted, boiling water, is to melt about a tablespoon of butter and one of olive oil in a wide pan, then sauté the broccoli florets and (still frozen) shrimp, tossing them around to cook evenly and to coat with the oils. A little pepper is nice, at this stage, but hold the salt as the shrimp will likely add all the salt you need. At the last minute, squeeze the juice of a whole lemon into the pan with the shrimp and broccoli, continuing to toss them around to coat.

The shrimp will thaw and some of that ice will be in the pan, but if it feels like there's not enough sauce, you can reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water to amplify the pan drippings. Be sparing, however, as you don't want to drown the flavors - just add a tablespoon at a time until you feel confident that the pasta will be covered.

Drain the pasta, pile it onto the plates, and ladle over the lovely, lemony broth. Top with shrimp and broccoli and enjoy your scamp-ish.