Scampi on over here little guys...

Ahh...Friday's in Lent.  I was never a big fish person growing up.  I know my parents fixed halibut in foil packs with lemon,butter and dill, but the majority of what I remember was fish sticks and breaded filets.  I did feed those to the kids when they were younger, but Sarge did not seem fond of them, and quickly started looking forward to Lent as a reason for him to find new meatless recipes to try.

One of the first things that he started making was Shrimp Scampi.  I had tasted it before, and had decided that it was pretty good.  Of course being a young married couple, we could not afford to go out for Scampi (especially when our first duty station was in Brooklyn, NY, and our second was in San Francisco).  I think the first time I made it was a frozen package from Contesso, where the shrimp were actually frozen with the scampi seasoning "glued" to it.

Sarge had to figure out what all seasonings needed to be added to it.  Let me tell you, this is one of those occasions where you wish you had smell though the computer.  So far I can tell you that there is butter (yes, I said butter), onion, red bell pepper, lots of garlic, a little olive oil, and seasonings.  It smells fabulous when it starts heating up.

In the meantime, unless you have the ability to purchase fresh shrimp, these little guys need to be bathing in some cool running water to defrost. I tend to purchase the medium size shrimp for our family.  The small ones seem to get lost in the pasta, but if you go too large it seems like it is off balance the other way.  I guess size of shrimp does tend to be personal preference.  These were uncooked, deveined, peeled shrimp with tail on.  I personally prefer the tail off, but could not find them uncooked. :(

Once the pasta is pretty much ready, then these little guys get to go for a bath in the yummy seasonings.  They only take a couple of minutes for them to be cooked through, but it is sure worth it. :)

I tend to use this cooking time to heat bread to go along with the meal, and maybe prep a salad.  For me, prepping a salad means opening a bag and putting them in dishes, but every once in a while I will do something more.

Then you put the pasta in the pan with the shrimp and the sauce.  Stir it so it comes together nicely, and you are do