Grilled shrimp scampi with pasta

I haven't cooked in a while because of my work schedule so having the day off was nice. Tonight's meal was quick and easy to make and one I will definitely fix again probably in the not-so-distant future. The original recipe can be found at allrecipes.com here.

Review: I followed the recipe pretty much as it was. There really isn't anything that needs to be changed about it. If you wanted you could melt some butter and add it into the marinade but without it, it makes the meal that much lighter and healthier. I also decided to make pasta with it but next time I might try it with rice. For the pasta I cooked the spaghetti according to the directions on the box, adding some salt in the water as it boiled for flavor. Then once it was cooked and I drained the water, all I added to it was butter so it wouldn't stick and poured what would probably be about 1 tsp. of olive oil on it as well. Depending on how many people you are serving the meal to, you might want to add more shrimp. You could eat the shrimp on its own though and not add pasta or rice. I cooked the shrimp on the grill as the recipe calls for you but you could cook them in a skillet. If you do that you could add the butter in at that time if you choose, but again, you don't have to. Overall it took about 30-45 minutes to cook but that time came from 30 minutes of letting the shrimp marinate in the refrigerator and waiting on the pasta and the garlic bread I made with it to cook (the garlic bread was just buttered bread and garlic powder cooked in the oven). If you were just fixing the shrimp it would take about 35 minutes or so with 30 minutes being the marinate and five minutes of cooking.

Recipe: 

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ground black pepper to taste
• crushed red pepper to taste (optional)
• 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

In a medium to large bowl, stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, garlic and black pepper. Season with crushed red pepper, if desired. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill for high heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard any remaining marinade. Lightly oil grill grate. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque.

I actually did not use skewers and just threw the shrimp on the grill. You'll want to be careful though if you are using medium-sized shrimp because they are barely large enough to fit on the grill without falling through (at least they were on our grill). If you use jumbo-sized shrimp, though, you should be OK. Also, I suggest you use raw shrimp and if you buy them frozen make sure you thaw them before use. Raw shrimp will allow for the marinade to soak in a little better than if you use pre-cooked shrimp. If you use raw shrimp you also won't really have to worry about over-cooking it like you might if you used pre-cooked shrimp. Other than that enjoy!