Pizza Today - September 2017 - 45

hrimp scampi is one of those
staple entrées that have adorned
menus around the world for
decades. Its origin starts with
a langoustine, which is a tiny
lobster-like crustacean generally
sautéed in olive oil with garlic and finished
with white wine. Another translation for
the word scampi is simply "prawn," which
is similar to a large shrimp. In the United
States we call it shrimp scampi.

We've come to love this dish as
shrimp of any size sautéed in a
delicious garlic butter often served
over a delicate bed of pasta. It's

something I learned to make more than
35 years ago when I first got started in
the restaurant business. Being young and
naïve, I assumed its preparation was simply
the same no matter who was preparing
it, but realized early in my career that
there are several variations as in any dish.
A complaint came in from a patron who
worked in another restaurant stating "this
isn't shrimp scampi. You're missing the
peppers and onions." Of course I thought
this customer was crazy, but then realized
that in the world of culinary arts, anything
goes and that was the recipe they were
used to making. I thought I would share
some variations with you so you can test
out the ones that speak to you. Think
about what might work best for your
establishment. Always feel free to tweak a
recipe or its presentation if you can think
of a twist that would please the culinary
palate of your customers.
Here's the excellent scampi butter recipe
that I've been using for all these years:
4 pounds butter
½ cup chopped garlic
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons thyme
½ cup freeze dried chives
½ cup chopped parsley
½ cup white wine
Soften your butter first for easy whipping.
For this size recipe, you'll need your large
mixer. If you want to play with the recipe to

see how it works for you, cut the recipe in
quarters, which will allow you to use a small
mixer.
Combine all your ingredients in the mixing bowl and be certain to start the mixer
on the lowest speed; otherwise, the lemon
juice and wine will splash out and make a bit
of a mess.
Slowly increase the speed of the mixer
as the ingredients start to blend together
nicely. I like to whip my butter on high for a
few minutes, which incorporates a little bit
of air into my scampi butter. I usually divide
the whipped butter into several 4-inch sixth
pans and pull one out at a time to use during
production. The first restaurant I learned to
make scampi, we didn't serve it with pasta
at all. Instead, we gave our diners a choice
of sides. So it was very simple to put five
peeled and deveined U-15 shrimp in a round
casserole in the shape of a pinwheel. We'd
then place a scoop of our scampi butter over
it and bake it in the convection oven at 400 F
for about 10 minutes. We served it sizzling in
that delicious butter.
Chef's Note: The number associated with
shrimp simply refers to its size. Example: U-15
means that there are under 15 shrimp per
pound. 26/30 means 26 to 30 shrimp per
pound. The higher the number the smaller the
shrimp.
Here are some variations of
scampi recipes:

Olive Garden has been offering a
chicken scampi dish on their menu for
about 20 years now. When chain restaurants keep a dish for that long with all of
the menu changes they have gone through,
you know it's a great seller! It's made of a
sautéed medley of yellow, red and green
bell peppers with lightly floured chicken
tenders. It's then finished with a creamy
scampi sauce made of a scampi butter with
a touch of Alfredo sauce, then tossed with
pasta.
Now you have two primary types of
scampi sauce: one is garlic-butter based
and the other is a creamier version. Take
your pick. Now that we've got an established recipe, we can consider other additions just like the peppers and onions my
customer insisted should be in the original
recipe. Consider these:
* Scampi Florentine would have some

fresh spinach tossed in at the last minute.
* Scampi Asperge would have some
fresh asparagus tossed in the dish before
finishing it.
* A New Orleans-style scampi would
have some large chunks of ripe tomato,
diced onion and peppers, sliced andouille
sausage, okra and a little Cajun spice. This
version would be great served over dirty
rice.
* Grilled Scampi would be skewering
shrimp, even adding some colorful veggies,
like red onion and colorful peppers and
grilling them while basting the skewers with melted scampi butter. This is a
fresher, slightly healthier and eye appealing
version!
Here's a fantastic idea for you
to try in the world of starters or
appetizers. It stretches the concept of

shrimp scampi, but that is how great ideas
are born! This would be popcorn shrimp
scampi. Fry up some of your favorite or
popular breaded popcorn shrimp. As soon
as they come out of the fryer and are plated, liberally dust the shrimp with a garlic/
Parmesan blend that is made up of grated
Parmesan, granulated garlic and parsley
flakes. Serve this dish with a side of garlic
aioli or garlic cream sauce for dipping.
Now, of course, shrimp scampi does not
need to be excluded in the pizza department. You've heard me say on numerous
occasions that a stretched-out pizza shell
is to a chef what an empty canvas is to an
artist. Without any sauce on the dough
at all, simply feather your cheese directly
onto your dough with dollops of partially
cooked and peeled shrimp in garlic butter.
Carefully scatter upon your pizza and bake
to perfection. You can even brush more
melted garlic butter onto the edges of the
crust!
There you have it: a plethora of scampi
ideas for you to go into your culinary
playground and just play and create some
masterpieces for your customers, creating
raving fans! n

JEFFREY FREEHOF is a frequent Pizza
Today contributor, Pizza Expo speaker,
chef and restaurant consultant.

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Pizza Today - September 2017

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