Amazing Citrus Shrimp Scampi With Cilantro

The Orange Juice And The Cilantro In This Shrimp Scampi Recipe Make It Unique!

I developed this recipe because I wanted to make an easy but delicious shrimp dish for Thanksgiving a few years ago.  Basically I wanted to spice up my regular shrimp scampi recipe. Since my daughter and her husband are vegetarians, I always like to prepare something really special for them for a holiday meal.  They really loved this shrimp, and so did everyone else at the table.  I have made this recipe a few times since, and I am never disappointed.  You will be very happy when you see your guests’ reactions to this gorgeous and delicious shrimp dish!  

• 2 pounds of extra large frozen or fresh unpeeled uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined -in the 20 to 30 shrimp per pound range
• 6 large or 8 medium cloves fresh garlic, 4 minced and 2 crushed, or 5 minced and 3 crushed)
• 1/2 cup olive oil (I use a mixture of extra virgin and light)
• 3 naval oranges,  (zest and juice)
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
• kosher salt
• freshly cracked pepper
• about 1/8 cup chopped fresh cilantro (1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley)

Use a microplane to zest the oranges.  You want to zest only the orange part, not the white part.  Set aside the zest, and then juice the oranges and set aside.  Juice the one lemon and set aside (get rid of the seeds).  Mince 4 garlic cloves into fine slivers and crush the remaining 2 garlic cloves; set aside.

I recommend that you do your peeling and deveining of your shrimp a little earlier.  The peeled and deveined shrimp can sit in the fridge covered for a few hours.

Take the ready to cook shrimp out of the refrigerator.  Sprinkle it with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Pour the oil into a large skillet or frying pan.  Sprinkle the crushed red pepper flakes in the oil.  Put the flame on medium, and stir the flakes in the oil for a minute or two after the oil heats up.  Then dump all the garlic in and cook over low-medium flame for about 30 seconds.  Add the grated orange zest and cook for 1 minute more.  Do not let the garlic burn!  Your garlic will be cooking longer after you add the rest of the ingredients so you don’t want to cook it too long at this point.  Add the shrimp.  You can raise the temperature a little.  Let the shrimp sit for about 30 seconds, and then start to turn the shrimp.  After about 2 minutes add the orange juice and the lemon juice.  Toss until the shrimp have turned pink; they are done.  Taste one shrimp.  You want it to be firm, but not raw.  When the shrimp are done, take them out with a slotted spoon and place them on your serving platter, leaving the juice or sauce in the pan.  Then put the flame on medium and let the sauce reduce just a minute or two to concentrate the flavors. If you simmer the sauce too long, it will reduce down to nothing.  So don’t cook it too long.  You want to make sure you have enough sauce to nicely coat the shrimp.  Throw the chopped cilantro or parsley in when the sauce is reduced and stir for less than a minute. Pour sauce over the shrimp on the serving platter.     

Note:  Even though I’m not crazy about cilantro,  I think it really does add something to this dish.  But if you really don’t like cilantro, use parsley instead.