Scampi With Herb Butter
2 scampi per person
handful of chopped herbs – Definitely chives, basil if it’s around, yes please to tarragon.
100 g unsalted butter
black pepper
1
Remove the heads of the scampi and slice them in half along their length. Remove the waste tract.
2
Soften the butter in your hands and mix through the chopped herbs until you have a ball of herb butter.
3
Lay out the sliced scampi on a baking tray, and dot the herb butter all along the flesh.
4
Bake in a slow (180°C) oven for about 10 minutes, or until the butter is just melted and not sizzling. The scampi is done when it has just changed colour. Don’t overcook it. Better undercooked than slaughtered.
5
Serve the scampi straight from the oven, with melted herb butter poured back over the flesh.
6
Only thing left to do is to turn the pepper mill over the scampi. This dish is best left to fingers, not forks.
WINE: Scampi comes from near the mouth of the Margaret River in Western Australia. It seems logical that you should serve a Margaret River wine with them. There are lovely semillon- and sauvignon blanc-based dry whites coming from Margaret River.