There is a seafood restaurant chain in Singapore called Fish &Co. And being true to the name, they have a vast menu of all kinds of fish but what I like most in their entire menu is a pasta - Prawn Fettuccini with Chili Cream. That pasta dish has the the most amazing shrimp in it - plump and juicy, always cooked to perfection. Every bite is perfect. I am not too fond of the cream sauce though - makes the entire dish feel a tad heavy whereas with the shrimp in it, it could be very light.

I have also enjoyed shrimp scampi in several food places in North America and always wanted to make a pasta with the flavors of garlic, lemon and shrimp coming through thin strands of pasta. Shrimp scampi too in a lot of places feels heavy and overly buttery. Over the years I have managed to come up with a good recipe of pasta and shrimp scampi but I could never get the shrimp right and I always wondered what the Fish & Co. folks were doing right.

With a fair bit of experimentation I realized that the cooking temperature and duration made all the difference. Shrimp are best cooked over low heat and for a short duration of time. A high flame or a long cooking time will make them dry and rubbery. The right amount of fat and the right combination of extra virgin olive oil and butter makes the sauce very delicious without it being oily or heavy. It feels like a light vinaigrette used to toss the shrimp and pasta. Lemon zest is a must and so are a few slices of lemon which add the extra zing at the end. Fresh basil is good to have but dried basil works equally well.

Ingredients:

250 gms fresh shrimp (peeled and deveined)

1/2 package angel hair pasta

2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves or 3 teaspoons chopped fresh basil leaves

zest of 1 lemon

few thin slices from a lemon (about 1/4 lemon)

juice squeezed from remaining lemon (about 3/4 lemon)

1 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon butter

salt and red chilli flakes to taste

Method:

1. In a pan bring plenty of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta as per package instructions till al dente. Drain the pasta in a strainer and set aside.

2. Put a pan over low heat and add the olive oil and butter to it. Add the chopped garlic and cook over very low heat till the garlic becomes soft.

3. Add lemon zest and basil leaves and stir together.

4. Add the peeled deveined shrimp and lemon slices to it and cook very gently over very low heat for about 1 minute. Add salt, red chilli and lemon juice and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

5. Add the pasta to this and mix well continuing to keep it on low heat.

6. Allow the lemon juice flavor to be absorbed by the pasta. Serve warm.