Sizzling

I love scampi. I love the garlic, the decadent sauce and of course the shrimp. Tonight I added a twist to my regular scampi recipe and I'm so thrilled with it I had to postpone the kitchen clean up and get this quick little recipe down in writing. Over the last year I have been playing with (what I believe is a Portuguese spice blend) Sazon con Azafran. I buy it in the international aisle of my grocery store. Here's what it looks like.

It comes in a box with small envelopes inside. For this recipe, because of all the garlic I only used one envelope. Anyway, this is a quick prep, a quick saute and a meal you'll want to linger over.

Scampi con Azafran
This should serve 3- but I think since it's so good, plan on it for 2 (or double the recipe for 4)

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and de-veined- I like the 16-20 shrimp/pound measure
3 T unsalted butter
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T minced garlic
1 packet Sazon Goya con Azafran
1 lemon zested
1 lemon squeezed of juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 cups cooked brown rice- tonight I used 2 Uncle Ben's Boil n Bags
chopped scallion, cilantro or parsley for garnish

Finely chop your garlic. I used 2 humongous garlic cloves and that gave me the 2 T of what I needed. Zest your lemon and then squeeze it for the juice. Mix your salt, pepper and azafran together in a small bowl and we're ready to start cooking. In large saucepan heat your butter and oil over medium low heat. You'll be adding your garlic next and you want it to gently cook, so medium low is the temp. Trust me- once you've burned garlic, you'll never cook it on anything but medium low again. Add your garlic and cook about 1 minute. Now add your shrimp.

Time to give this dish another flavor boost, so add the salt, pepper an Azafran.

Mix in the spices and cook about 5 minutes, turning the shrimp over halfway through. Just before you're ready to plate, add your lemon zest, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Toss again.

Serve with brown rice and enjoy! And don't forget a pretty green garnish.

The shrimp is cooked to perfection, the sauce is succulent and the flavors work so well together you will most definately eat more that you planned. My advice: Wear stretch pants tomorrow!