It’s August. How is that even remotely possible?
I have a bittersweet relationship with August. Hear me out: August is the “Sunday” of summer. It’s possible to enjoy the month but not without actively considering what it signifies which is the impending end of the (objectively) best season in NYC (I don’t care if you disagree with me, I am right). Knowing fall is around the corner sort of ruins August for me. Is fall technically a “nice” and “beautiful” time in the city? Maybe. But sweater weather is lost on me because in my mind, “fall” is really just “pre-winter.” And winter is *the worst.* Especially when it drags on for 6 months and is marked by pee + dirt-covered snow, 4pm sunsets and long, frigid walks to the subway. But why am I being all depress-y? It’s still August, after all, and I’m determined to enjoy the rest of my summer.
The Augusts of my childhood were marked by a family vacation to Hilton Head Island which made it much easier to appreciate and even look forward to this month. I summarized my thoughts on family vacation in my pasta e-book, Pasta Lover’s Diary, pretty succinctly:
I would venture to say that 75% of the reason I got excited for our annual summer vacation in Hilton Head Island was for the shrimp pasta. Every year, my mom would pick up giant local shrimp from a little stand on a back road (you could put the woman on Mars and she would still hunt down the best deals around). We’d take the shrimp back to our rented condo and I’d watch, mesmerized, as my mom peeled and deveined them quickly and fluidly. She’d build a pasta sauce with whatever we had on hand and somehow, it was always delicious. My mom is a master of adaption, whether for a recipe or for more serious circumstances such as fleeing the Soviet Union as a refugee and selling Russian tchotchkes on the streets of Italy to get by.
Shrimp season might start in June and last through December but to me, the epicenter of shrimp season is August. And there is simply no better way to consume shrimp than via a garlicky, buttery, lemon-y scampi - a dish that has slowly become my signature. Get the recipe below.
Em’s Signature Shrimp Scampi
WHAT YOU NEED
1 lb dry pasta of your choice (I prefer spaghetti or linguine)
1.5 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
1-2 tsp paprika (I like smoked!)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
8-10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
A few anchovy filets (optional)
1-2 tsp chili flakes
1 cup broth or wine
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 cup parsley, chopped
2-3 tbsp cold butter
Salt to taste
WHAT YOU DO
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
Toss your shrimp with some olive oil, salt and paprika. Add to a skillet with a couple tbsp olive oil (enough to coat the bottom) and cook over medium heat for a few min on each side. Remove the shrimp and set aside.
Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to directions. Meanwhile, add remaining olive oil to the ex shrimp skillet over medium heat along with garlic, shallots, and chili flakes. I highly recommend adding a few anchovy filets at this point - they’ll dissolve and become virtually undetectable aside from imparting a nice bit of umami. Cook until garlic becomes fragrant/shallots begin to turn opaque. Add broth or wine. Use a wood spoon or whisk to scrape up all the shrimpy bits on the bottom of the skillet and incorporate them into the sauce (deglazing!).
Add cooked pasta to the skillet along with cold butter, parsley and lemon juice. Toss vigorously until the butter melts. If the sauce feels dry add some pasta water.
Serve and savor every last drop of buttery, garlicky, shrimpy summer.