Ina’s Baked Shrimp Scampi

It is Ina Friday time again when a group of blogging friends get together and prepare an Ina Garten dish and blog about it. This month we are doing main dishes. Having recently converted to a pescetarian diet, I went looking specifically for a seafood recipe. The first one that caught my attention was Baked Shrimp Scampi. Aside from the fact that we have eaten shrimp for dinner three times this week, it was a perfect choice.

Ina’s recipe calls for very large shrimp (12-15 per pound) but those are difficult to find. I bought large shrimp (16-20 per pound).  I also didn’t read the recipe very eel,l because I didn’t butterfly my shrimp after peeling and deveining.  They probably would have cooperated better in the baking dish. I didn’t have a 14″ gratin dish like Ina, so I made the scampi in two smaller dishes. I thought we would only eat one, but we enjoyed it so much we dove right in to the second one too. I used a pound and half of shrimp and adjusted the recipe accordingly.

This is a wonderful version of shrimp scampi. The butter, garlic, lemon and herb infused panko bread crump topping is divine. Baking at 425 degrees cooks the shrimp quickly and they don’t get rubbery at all. I loved that. This will become a regular in our lineup of sea feed entrees. Delicious.

Here is Ina’s recipe for Baked Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients
2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp in the shell
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 extra-large egg yolk
2/3 cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
Lemon wedges, for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch oval gratin dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and towards the center of the dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute. Serve with lemon wedges.