Shrimp Luciano
PJ Monte
4
15 minutes
20 minutes
Italian
I was first introduced to Don Peppe's in Ozone Park, Queens onJonny Lennon's birthday. It's an old school joint that's been around since 1968, which has minimal decor - just horse jockey jerseys and a massive menu on the wall. After that it became tradition to stop by before or after a flight out of JFK, which was right around the corner.
Typically, as you walk in, the host - or one of the owners or a cousin of an owner or some combination of the three, is seated in front of a 70" flat screen tv watching the Yankee's game from about 6 inches away, next the coat check and immediately reprimands me for wearing a hat inside with a point, whistle and flip of his finger. Bright fluorescent lights light up the room full of large tables that mostly seat 8-10 people.
Everything is family style, and they look at you sideways if your party is less than 5 people with large appetites. So of course, ironically, I first discovered this particular dish - Shrimp Luciano - on a date after a round of baked clams and a bottle of nameless chilled red house wine. Needless to say, there was plenty of leftovers, and we were not upset about it.
The Luciano sauce is a shallot, butter, white wine sauce with just a hint of tomato. After that meal, i set outto learn this dish. After much trial and error this is my rendition I put together. I was later told by a relative of the Don Peppe family the trick was the type of white wine they used - but he wouldn't tell me which one that was, it's the family secret.
Typically, as you walk in, the host - or one of the owners or a cousin of an owner or some combination of the three, is seated in front of a 70" flat screen tv watching the Yankee's game from about 6 inches away, next the coat check and immediately reprimands me for wearing a hat inside with a point, whistle and flip of his finger. Bright fluorescent lights light up the room full of large tables that mostly seat 8-10 people.
Everything is family style, and they look at you sideways if your party is less than 5 people with large appetites. So of course, ironically, I first discovered this particular dish - Shrimp Luciano - on a date after a round of baked clams and a bottle of nameless chilled red house wine. Needless to say, there was plenty of leftovers, and we were not upset about it.
The Luciano sauce is a shallot, butter, white wine sauce with just a hint of tomato. After that meal, i set outto learn this dish. After much trial and error this is my rendition I put together. I was later told by a relative of the Don Peppe family the trick was the type of white wine they used - but he wouldn't tell me which one that was, it's the family secret.
Ingredients
- 2-3 Shallots
- 1lb Linguini (or pasta of your choice)
- 1-2 lbs of rock shrimp
- 1 Stick of butter (Quartered)
- Chopped Parsley
- ½ Cup white wine
Directions
- Clean and peel 1-2 lbs of rock shrimp or chopped medium or large shrimp. Rinse and set aside.
- Chop 2-3 shallots.
- Bring lightly salted pasta water to a boil.
- In a sauce pan add olive oil and 1 stick of quartered chilled butter on medium heat. Add shallots and cook together.
- Generously finish with diced parsley.
- When aromatic, and the shallots have sweated out into the butter, add the chopped shrimp.
- When most of the shrimp is pink add ½ cup white wine.
- When wine starts to steam and become aromatic, add ½ - full jar of Monte’s sauce, depending on your tomato preference. Stir and cover so shrimp cooks through on medium low heat.
- Cook pasta until al dente. Pull pasta from cooking water into sauce and finish cooking in the sauce.
- Cook on medium low to low until sauce sticks to noodle.