Quick and Easy Shrimp Scampi and Artichokes with Angel Hair Pasta

For our first Girls Night In, I wanted to do something fun for dinner. I've been dying to have more seafood and was in the mood for Italian. So after a wonderful meal, I decided to add this recipe online.

1 - 2lb. bag of frozen peeled and de-veined shrimp (any size you like)
1 Lemon
1 can of large artichoke hearts, drained
3 scallions (green onions)
1 box angel hair
3 cloves of garlic
Butter
Olive oil
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper

1. Zest lemon. Place in small bowl. Cut zested lemon in half and squeeze juice over zest.
2. Thinly slice scallions. Use both white and green portions. Set aside.
3. Quarter artichoke hearts.
4. Slice garlic into thin slices. Place garlic slices in small skillet. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover with olive oil. (about 1/4 cup.) Set on low burner. Be careful not to fry the garlic. This is just to infuse the oil with garlic flavor.
   
5. In a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 table spoon olive oil. When the pan is hot, add the quartered artichoke hearts. Add a little salt over the top. Fry artichoke hearts until they are slightly browned on both sides. Place in a separate bowl.
   
6. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil back to hot skillet. Add frozen shrimp to the pan. Add salt to shrimp.
   
7. As the shrimp cook, water will begin to accumulate in the skillet. Continually dump this water off into the sink.
8. Once the water stops accumulating and the shrimp are close to being fully cooked, turn the burner down to medium low. Add 2 tablespoons butter to shrimp. Stir until it's melted. Add salt, pepper to taste. Add around 1/4 teaspoon cayenne. Add in artichokes and scallions.
9. Prepare pasta as directed on the package. Make sure it's al-dente. Drain and place back in pan. Pour garlic oil over pasta. This will prevent the pasta from sticking together and give a boost of flavor. Place pasta in serving dish.
10. Pour shrimp and artichoke scampi over the pasta and serve.

Note that I made a lot of extra shrimp so Daniel could have some of the left overs! Also note that the frozen shrimp can be substituted with fresh shrimp. The closest place that I've found to get good shrimp is 25 minutes away from here and I can not always make it out their. Plus they are more expensive.

I've found that defrosting the frozen shrimp sometimes removes flavor. Especially if you rinse the shrimp or let them sit in the water that's drained. Cooking them while frozen allows you to cook shrimp at a moments notice. Just be sure to always drain the excess water, regardless of the recipe that you use them in.