Tagliatelle with Scampi

Tagliatelle and Scampi in Garlic Wine Sauce

The minute we landed at the airport in Bologna, we made our way to the supermarket to buy a few things. Hubby was pretty sick of eating out, so I was expected to exercise my culinary skills now that I'm going to be part of the decoration once again.

Babies Sleeping in Plane

He saw some fresh raw scampi at the fishmonger's and said that maybe we should have some. Then the babies insisted that he bring them to the loo and he reluctantly left the supermarket. I was busy filling up the trolley with Danone chocolate creams when I thought I saw the fish guy switching off his weighing scale. Panic aboard so I went ahead and told him I wanted 10 of those scampis. 1 Kg. 47 Euros.

Raw Scampi

I nearly choked. But was too thin-skinned to tell him that I may not be sure of taking all that after all. So I went on and continued to fill up the trolley (with what I could barely remember at this point). The Hubby returned and I told him about the scampi. I wonder when he had suddenly become so sturdy because not only didn't he flinch, but he actually looked quite pleased with the idea of eating something fresh and maybe still alive a couple of hours ago.

But damn it, as we wanted to pay cash for his Alfa Romeo (it's a company car, but you have to pay for part of it), we'll need to watch our budget in the next 2 months at least and starting my first evening in Italy with 150 euros at the supermarket did not exactly fit into the scheme of things.

I cooked it for lunch on Sunday. Delicate cooking something so expensive. But I'm happy to say that it turned out really well. Did something really simple : Tagliatelle with Scampi.

10 Fresh large Scampi (1 Kg)

10-12 cloves of fresh Pink Garlic (finely sliced)

4-5 Tbsps of Olive Oil

1 glass of White Wine

1 Tbsp of White Martini

10 Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

Parsley

Salt and Pepper

300g Fresh Tagliatelle

Parmesan Cheese

Lemon Juice

Heat up the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add in the sliced garlic and fry till fragrant. Add in the scampi, stir them around a little to mix with the fragrant oil, add in the white wine and cover. Cook over low-medium heat for 8-10 minutes.

Uncover and remove the scampis from the pan. Remove the heads and return them (the heads) to the pan. Add in the White Martini, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat. If necessary, add in more white wine.

In the meantime, you can either leave the scampis as they are or peel them. Cook the fresh tagliatelle. When you are ready to serve, remove the heads from the sauce and add the tomatoes, parsley and lastly the scampis to the sauce. Squeeze some lemon juice over it and serve hot on a bed of tagliatelle. Do not forget the freshly grated parmesan cheese, of course (but not too much as to mask the delicate taste of the shellfish) .