Shrimp Scampi with Gazpacho Salsa

I decided to celebrate having my family back together this evening with Shrimp Scampi. I also found a great recipe on Epicurious for Gazpacho Salsa which I thought would go great on top of it (plus, it used cucumbers in chunks big enough for me to pick out). I made the salsa first to let the flavors "marry," and I knew the Shrimp Scampi I would need to pay attention the whole time I was cooking it. I am not including the recipe for the salsa, but have included a link to Epicurious's website. A quick note on the salsa recipe. Be sure to use smoked paprika. That makes the salsa spectacular. Again, that's a good ingredient to buy in the bulk spice section because you can get just a little of it (and not a whole jar for one recipe). I omitted the black olives and red onions because I didn't have either on hand. I think they both would have made the taste a little more complex, but I didn't think "this should black olives/onions" while I was eating (in other words, they weren't missed).

For the Shrimp scampi, I soaked 1 lb of frozen shrimp in a bowl of salted water until they were thawed enough to peel. (I normally don't devein my shrimp because that seems like too much work and I don't notice a taste difference---nor does the thought of it not being deveined bother me). I put a pot of water on to boil for pasta and prepared the seasoning for the shrimp. In a small bowl I combined 3 T olive oil, 3 T melted butter, and 4 cloves of minced garlic. I poured that into a 9 x 13" pan. In a separate bowl, I combined 2 T fresh parsley, 1 T finely grated lemon peel, and dash of salt and pepper. I mixed that in with the shrimp. Then I broiled the 9 x 13" pan with the butter, etc for 2 minutes. The butter became brown and everything was fragrant. I laid the shrimp into the hot pan, and broiled the shrimp for 2 minutes. I turned them over with a tongs and broiled them for another minute (and then another minute). To serve, I put the cooked pasta (I used capellini but any long pasta would work) in a large bowl and topped with the shrimp and butter sauce. I gently tossed the butter sauce in to coat the pasta.

I served the salsa on the side and whoever wanted to, but it on top of their shrimp and pasta. Curtis loved it with the salsa on top. M loved the shrimp and pasta but didn't eat the salsa because the tomatoes and cucumbers were mixed up (she loves both foods separately, just not together, silly girl!). J didn't eat much of anything because he had found a bag of raisins before supper that he ate way too many of. Overall, it was a great meal. I like the salsa on the pasta, but not on the shrimp. I will definitely repeat this meal!