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Recipes. shrimp scampi

Loving My New Dehydrator: Shrimp Scampi over Zucchini Noodles

We recently purchased a Nesco Snackmaster Food Dehydrator – what fun.  The very first use was for beef jerky.  It turned out pretty good, but with a little tweaking it will turn out better next time.  Commercial jerky is so salty and my partner, who loves to snack on it, really watches his sodium intake like a hawk.  Making our own jerky leaves us in control and is more economical.  The cost is about 1/3, so the dehydrator will pay for itself in no time.  Plus, we will get so many more uses out of it.  Yesterday for lunch we enjoyed Shrimp Scampi, one of those timeless dishes that I like to revisit every once in a while.  It seems decadently rich, and is both mildly spicy and mildly sweet (not from sugar but from good quality Kerrygold Butter and delicious pink Argentinian shrimp).  Instead of serving it on pasta as is typical, I made a batch of zucchini noodles.  This is where the dehydrator comes in.  Previously, when making zucchini pasta I found that when you saute the zucchini noodles, they release alot of water and this will dilute the sauce you use with it.  so I decided to put the zucchini in the dehydrator.   It would have been a shame to ruin the delicious scamp sauce with watery zucchini noodles.  It worked like a charm.  The only drawbacks of putting the zucchini noodles in the dehydrator I can think of is the additional time it takes and the volume of the noodles decreases quite a bit.  next time I’ll dehydrate more zucchini.

Here’s how I made it:

Shrimp Scampi over Zucchini Noodles

To Make the zucchini noodles, you will need:

  • 3-4 medium to large zucchini
  • 1 tbls. olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the zucchini noodles:

Slice the zucchini, lengthwise in thin pieces, about 1/4″.  Stack the slices and then slice again into noodles, again aboout 1/4″.  If you have a dehydrator, place the zucchini noodles in the dehydrator at the highest temperature for about 1 hour.  If you don’t have a dehydrator, don’t worry, you can still saute them and then drain any excess liquid before serving.  Here’s how mine looked after coming out of the dehydrator.  If you use a dehydrator, check on the zucchini noodles periodically to ensure they don’t dry out too much.  This probably won’t be a problem if they are not in the dehydrator more than an hour.

To prepare the Shrimp Scampi, you will need:

  • 1 lb. peeled, deveined shrimp with the tail off (I found cleaned, tail off Argentinian Pink Shrimp in the freezer case at Trader Joes – they are sweeter than typical shrimp and have a flavor close to lobster – I highly recommend them)
  • 1/4 C. Olive Oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/2 – 3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 5 tbls. good quality butter
  • 1/2 cup of dry white wine (or substitute with chicken broth)
  • 3-4 tbls. fresh or dried parsley

To prepare the Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles:

Heat I tbls. olive oil in a saute pan.  When the oil is hot, add the zucchini noodles and season with salt and pepper.  Saute the zucchini noodles until cooked through.  If you are using the dehydrated zucchini noodles, this will only take a minute or two.  If you are not using the dehydrated zucchini noodles, when they are cooked through and if there is excess moisture in the pan drain the zucchini noodles and set aside.

Now heat 1/4 cup olive oil in the saute pan over medium heat.  Pat dry the shrimp and season with salt and pepper.  Place the shrimp in the hot oil in one even layer being careful to not overcrowd the pan.  Saute the shrimp for about a minute or so, and then turn the shrimp and saute for another minute or so, depending on the shrimp size, until cooked through but not overdone.  With a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp from the pan and place in a bowl.  Add the garlic, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and white wine (or chicken broth) to the pan and saute for about 2 minutes, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the parsley and butter.  When the butter is melted and incorporated into the sauce add the shrimp back to the pan and toss to coat.  Turn off the heat.

Now, divide the zucchini noodles between two plates and then top each with half of the Shrimp Scampi mixture.  You can garnish with additional chopped parsley, red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese if you like.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

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Thursday, August 26th, 2010 Recipes No Comments