Chef Thomas Keller’s Shrimp Scampi Recipe

• Canola oil
• Breadcrumbs
• 6 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails intact
• Garlic compound butter
• Lemon salt

For the garlic compound butter:

• 100 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 10 grams roasted garlic purée
• 1 gram garlic, peeled, grated on a rasp grater
• 10 grams Italian parsley, chopped
• 20 grams fresh lemon juice
• 10 grams kosher salt

For the lemon salt:

• 30 grams Maldon sea salt
• 1 lemon

Equipment

• Gratin dish
• Cutting board
• Paring knife
• Sheet pan

1. 1

   First, make the roasted garlic purée for the compound butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Trim the top 1/3 from the heads of garlic to expose the cloves and place them on a sheet of aluminum foil. Season the garlic with salt and drizzle with canola oil. Seal the garlic in the foil, wrapped en papillote (or like a packet), and place it on a sheet pan. Roast for 45 minutes until the garlic cloves are a deep golden brown and soft.

2. 2

   Remove the foil packet from the oven, unseal it, and allow the garlic to rest until it is cool enough to handle. Grasp the garlic head from the root end to squeeze out the cloves from their skins onto a tamis. Use a plastic bench scraper to pass the roasted garlic through the tamis, and you’ll be left with roasted garlic purée.

3. 3

   To make the garlic compound butter, place the tempered butter in a bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Add the garlic purée, grated garlic, fresh parsley, lemon juice, and salt, and stir to combine. Cut a piece of plastic wrap and place it onto the work surface. Spoon the butter onto the plastic wrap in the form of a rough log about 4 inches long, approximately two inches from one end of the plastic wrap. Use a plastic bench scraper to help roll up the butter in the plastic to form a compact log about 1 inch in diameter. Pull the ends of the plastic wrap to tighten the log, then twist the ends and tie. Let the butter firm up in the refrigerator so that it is easier to slice off discs in the amount you need. The butter can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen, well-wrapped, for up to 2 months.

4. 4

   To make the lemon salt, place the Maldon sea salt in a bowl, and use the rasp grater to lightly grate 1 gram of lemon zest into the salt. Mix well to incorporate. Set aside.

5. 5

   Preheat the broiler. Coat the bottom of a gratin dish with a very thin layer of canola oil and dust with breadcrumbs. Butterfly the shrimp up to where the shell of the tail begins. Then open up the halves of the shrimp body and fold them back toward the tail as you place it into the gratin dish (so that most of the meat is exposed). This will ensure that the shrimp cook evenly.

6. 6

   Slice 4 ¼–inch-thick discs of garlic compound butter, remove them from the plastic wrap and distribute them on the shrimp. Dust with breadcrumbs.

7. 7

   Lay the gratin dish on a sheet pan and place under the broiler until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. The shrimp are done when they are opaque and firm to the touch. Finish with lemon salt and serve.

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