In Our Kitchen: Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

There is no denying that Julie and I are seafood lovers. One of the best parts about a trip to the coast is to indulge in some of the delicious fresh seafood. I was also very lucky to have a college roommate from the coast with a great source of fresh Pamlico County, NC seafood. 

While we may be a little biased to seafood from our home state, we do have Alabama Gulf Seafood on our must-try list. Since a trip to the gulf has not been scheduled yet, we cooked up a little seafood dish of our own right here in Birmingham! Check out our newest recipe for Mediterranean inspired Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked orzo

1/2 teaspoon salt - divided

7 teaspoons unsalted butter - divided

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 medium tomato chopped

1 hand-full of spinach stems removed 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain. Place in medium bowl. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of salt and keep warm.
2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining salt and lemon juice. Add half of shrimp to pan; saute 2 minutes. Transfer to plate. Repeat for second half of shrimp.
3. Melt remaining butter. Add garlic to pan. Add tomato to pan. Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, orzo and spinach. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Recipe altered from Cooking Light.