Shrimp Scampi

Tom had decided that for dinner tonight, he wanted a chicken and rice dish, but that's not what I wanted, so I chose a recipe I found off of Pinterest for Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi.

Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

• 1 -2 lb fresh shrimp, cleaned and deveined, and butterflied
• 1 lb angel hair pasta
• 1 diced tomato
• 6 -8 whole garlic cloves
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 1 cup dry white wine
• olive oil
• 5 -7 leaves fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated
• parsley

For the shrimp

• milk
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Pour enough olive oil in a large sauce pan to cover the bottom, turn to medium high heat. This is the only pot you'll need for the sauce so it should be big. Soak the shrimp in milk and combine the dry ingredients (flour, 2T cheese, salt, pepper). Coat the shrimp with the dry ingredients and let them fry in the olive oil, About 2 minutes per side until golden brown. The Flour that falls off the shrimp will add great flavor and consistency to the sauce. Add more oil as necessary, between batches of shrimp. Dab the shrimp with a paper towel, cover and set aside on range top to keep warm.
2. Add the garlic to the oil, stir for a few minutes, then turn the heat to medium low. Now add the wine and bring it to a boil. Then turn the heat to low and cover, let the wine reduce, about 10-15 minutes.
3. In a separate pot, bring water to simmer. (for pasta later).
4. Add the cream, and bring it back to a boil, turn heat to low and simmer for 10 more minutes. While it is simmering dice your shallot and tomato, and chiffonade your basil. Now add the Basil, diced tomato, and remaining 2T Parmesan cheese. Stir for a moment then add the fried shrimp, and remove the pan from heat. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
5. Bring pasta pot to a boil and add angel hair and cook.
6. To plate, pour some sauce on a dish and arrange the shrimp around the bottom (10 or so), then take a ball of the pasta and plate that above the shrimp. garnish with a little parsley.

I've never had the Shrimp Scampi at the Cheesecake Factory, so I don't know how this was supposed to taste, but I thought it was okay. I didn't use fresh garlic or basil, so maybe some of the flavor wasn't there because of that fact. I also threw all of my wet shrimp in a plastic bag with the dry ingredients, so the dry ingredients got all clumpy and didn't coat all of the shrimp well. Oh well, live and learn. It was a decent dish, I was just looking for more flavor.