I spent the entirety of yesterday pajama-ed and in bed. While I worked. And it rained and other people had to commute. The only negative involved booting Henry the MBP into Windows XP so I could do that work. It saddens me to taint my dear computer so.
Clearly working at home twice a week is agreeing with me.
Anyway, you should all know by now that I absolutely adore garlic. Like, I would eat 10 cloves of garlic in one sitting if given the chance. What you don’t know is that one of my favorite things to eat when I was younger was shrimp scampi over pasta. My dad would sauté a bunch of garlic in olive oil and butter and then serve it up over noodles. It also absolutely required a side of cheesy garlic bread, because carbsclearly go well with garlic. No vegetables needed.
I decided to make this childhood favorite a little bit more grown up by turning it into a pizza. ‘Cause you know, pizza isvery adult. And though I am a huge vegetable fan–spinach belongs in everything–I decided not to dilute the intense garlicky flavor I was going for. Don’t worry though–I ate salad and squash with dinner.
I thought I was pretty brilliant with this whole Shrimp Scampi Pizza magig, but it turns out a sub-par pizza chain makes something similar. I will however let you know that my pizza is full of fresh garlic and herbs, big succulent shrimp, and high-quality cheese. I do pizza hardcore, yo.
Shrimp Scampi Pizza
Tops a 12″ pizza
5 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
kosher salt
ground black pepper
dried oregano
olive oil
6 raw shrimp, sized 31/35
1 shallot, diced
3 Tbsp. cilantro, minced
1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/8 cup shredded parmesan
Preheat oven to 450F.
1. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, but not browned.
2. Add chicken stock, wine and lemon juice. Simmer until reduced to about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
3. Add the butter. Season with salt, pepper and oregano, to taste.
4. Slice the shrimp lengthwise and dip in garlic sauce. Set aside.
5. Brush pizza with olive oil, and then cover middle with all of the garlic sauce. Sprinkle with half the cilantro. Bake 8-10 minutes, until just starting to brown.
6. Pull out pizza and cover with mozzarella. Lay down shrimp slices and then cover with parmesan/asiago. Sprinkle with shallots.
7. Put back in oven and cook until cheese is melted and shrimp are visibly pink. Try not to overcook–rubbery shrimp are unappetizing.
8. Pull from oven, and let cook slightly. Before slicing, sprinkle with the rest of the cilantro.
