Deep Dish Shrimp Scampi Pizza

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Yesterday afternoon I was in a quandary about what to have for dinner. I usually don't give it too much deep thought, but having been in cooking overdrive for several days, I was just stumped. Nothing complicated...it was meatless Friday...could I work in the feast of St. Stephen? Well, I finally gave up on working in the feast day, but I managed something uncomplicated that was meatless and didn't involve me leaving the house for a trip to the store.

This Shrimp Scampi Pizza was just what we needed. Doug said it was the best pizza he'd ever eaten. And three of the kids really enjoyed it, too (although one little girl I now ate the shrimp off the top and left the rest!).

I used a recipe from CPK for the basic idea and adjusted quantities of ingredients to taste. Although I was also making a basic deep dish cheese pizza for one non-fish eating kid, I wanted to make the pizza mild enough that I could eat it. I have tummy trouble with too much garlic and this recipe called for loads. I reduced the amount and still had tummy trouble because even reduced, it's a lot of garlic. But, that's really what scampi is all about so I wouldn't reduce it any more.

My recipe for pizza dough can be found here. I used one recipe for two deep dish pizzas (using a 9-inch cake pan and a 9-inch cast iron skillet). The toppings are the right quantity for one large regular pizza or two medium deep dish.

Deep Dish Shrimp Scampi Pizza

1 recipe pizza dough
5 T. butter
1/4 c. minced shallot
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. salt
pinch pepper
1/3 c. chardonnay
1 T. freshly-squeezed lemon juice

10 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 t. olive oil

1- 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
12 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut in half lengthwise
2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley

Melt 1 T. butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Add shallot, garlic and thyme.
Cook, stirring until mixture is light brown, about 6 minutes.
Add salt, pepper, wine, and lemon juice.
Cook until the mixture is reduced to about 1/2 cup.
(Toward the end of the reduction,
reduce heat to low and stir to prevent scorching.)
Remove pan from heat and quickly whisk in remaining 4 T. butter.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 325 degrees F to cook garlic.
Coat the chopped garlic with the olive oil and
place in a small casserole or baking dish.
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes until the edges of the garlic begin to brown.
Stir to provide even browning.
Cook for 15 minutes longer.
Remove from oven when garlic is evenly golden brown.

Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F.
Grease two 9-inch oven-proof skillets or cake pans.
Divide dough in half and press each half into a pan,
pressing up the sides about 1 inch.
Spread half of the garlic/butter/shallot mixture over the surface of each pizza.
Sprinkle 3/4 cup of cheese over each pizza.
Evenly distribute the roasted garlic over both pizzas
and then top with shrimp, skin side up.

Bake until crust is crisp and cheese is bubbly in the center,
10 to 15 minutes.
The shrimp should be pink and cooked through.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with parsley.
Cut in slices.


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