Remember scampi? I feel it was all the rage back in the ’90s and early 2000s, then it kind of went away for a while. I hadn’t had it in ages, until a friend made it for dinner the other day and I was like, “where were you!?”. Let’s bring it back.

Shrimp scampi is the perfect midweek dinner dish, but it’s fancy enough to have people over (if you can do it safely!). It’s not fussy, requires little cooking (which is perfect if your kitchen is hot as hell during summer), and it’s nearly impossible to mess it up.

To make it more of a hefty meal, I added some fried farro, which is nothing more than cooked farro tossed in a pan with olive oil to give it a little crunch. The bite of the farro soaked in the sauce of the scampi is heaven. You can serve this dish with a side of rustic bread so you can soak up the tasty bits left on your plate.

If you have fresh shrimp available, go for it! But if you can’t find it at the market, frozen also works, just make sure the shrimp is peeled and deveined.

I added a ton of scallions because I had a ton in my fridge, but you can also use whatever veggie is about go: kale, asparagus, spinach – it all pretty much works.

Scallion Shrimp Scampi and Fried Farro

Serves 2

You’ll need:
– ½ cup farro
– 2 bunches of scallions, trimmed, thinly sliced
– 1 garlic clove, minced
– 1 tsp chili flakes (less if you don’t want it too spicy)
– ½ cup dry white wine
– Juice of 1 lemon
– 2 tbsp butter (sub for vegan butter if you can’t have dairy)
– 10 to 12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Instructions:
1. Start by cooking the farro: pour farro into a pot with boiling water and salt (enough water to completely cover the farro and let it move while cooking). Simmer for 25-30 minutes until farro is tender. Remove from the pot, drain.

2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Toss in the farro and fry for 3-4 minutes until some crispy bits develop. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. To make the scampi: add some olive oil to a skillet and cook the scallions over medium heat, until tender, about 5 minutes. Now add the minced garlic and chili flakes, toss to cook making sure not to burn the garlic. Add the wine, deglaze the pan, and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add lemon, butter, and shrimp to the pan and cook until the shrimp is cooked, about 3 minutes.

To serve, place the cooked farro on a platter, then pour the scampi all over it. Top with crushed pepper and salt.