Langostino Scampi Pasta

The other night my roommate Morgen and I wanted to make shrimp scampi for dinner, so after we picked up FREE cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (yes, you should be jealous). We stopped by Marvelous Market to get sourdough bread and then Trader Joe's to get the rest of the things we needed.

While we were looking around TJ's we saw frozen cooked langostino, and they looked good, so we decided why not just try that. Then, I became curious about what a langostino is exactly so I consulted the ever-useful Wikipedia when we got back to the room. They are small lobster or crawfish like animals and apparently what the original scampi was made with- Perfect!

Langostino Scampi Pasta

1 pound brown rice linguini or spaghetti

4 tablespoons vegan butter (Earth Balance)

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large shallot, finely diced

5 cloves garlic, sliced

pinch red pepper flakes, optional

1 pound cooked langostino tails (can easily be found pre-cooked and frozen)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup white wine

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves

To start the pasta, bring a large pot of water to a boil then add salt and pasta. Stir the pasta to separate then cover the pot. Once the water comes back to a boil, cook for about 6-8 minutes, until the pasta is not quite done. Drain the pasta and reserve a cup of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Then add the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes and saute until shallots are translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Season the tails with salt and pepper and add to the sauce to heat and absorb the flavors (about 2 minutes). Remove the tails then add in the lemon juice and wine. Bring to a boil then add the remaining butter and oil. Once the butter has melted, add the tails back in as well as the parsley, pasta, and pasta water. Stir well and season with additional salt and pepper.

**This post was edited on 12/12/10 to make it gluten and dairy free.