Fandango’s Basques Scampi

In 1983, Walter Georis converted a charming old house in Pacific Grove, California into the restaurant Fandango. It has a warm atmosphere and good food. This recipe is from Chef Pedro De La Cruz: This is their most popular dish. The recipe of their sauce has been in Pedro’s family for generations. The Basques crisscross the Pyrennees, moving between the French and Spanish cultures with ease as they cling to their own traditions. 

20 Large prawns shelled, 

deveined ½ cup chopped shallots 

1/2 cup chopped scallions 

A large tomato diced 

1 teaspoon chopped garlic 

1 bunch wilted spinach leaves 

¼ cup white wine 

Squeeze of lemon, 

Dash of raspberry vinegar

5 tablespoons butter 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

Salt, pepper and cayenne to taste 

¾ pounds of vermicelli pasta 

 

Cut off roots off a bunch of spinach, rinse spinach in several changes of water. Drain well and wilt damp spinach in a large frying pan. Turn leaves as you go with thongs until all spinach is wilted. Turn off heat, sprinkle with a dash of raspberry vinegar and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Cover spinach with a lid. Bring a lightly salted pot with 2 quarts of water to a boil for the pasta. Sauté shallots in butter. When clear add tomato, cayenne, and garlic and allow this to cook while stirring and eventually scraping the pan as this reduces to a soffritto. Put pasta into the boiling water; stir a few times, as it cooks, so the pasta does not stick. Turn up heat under spinach to low, allow it to gentle heat back up. Turn up heat under soffritto, add shrimp, wine, stir a bit and when it begins to bubble reduce heat, cover with lid, and cook five minutes. When pasta is “al-dente”, drain well, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon butter, using thongs, squeeze out any liquid in spinach, and add to pasta. Add half of the scallions and toss pasta well. Use thongs to remove prawns from the pan to a plate. Add sauce from pan to the pasta. Toss pasta well. Serve a portion of pasta topped with five of the prawns. Garnish plates with the rest of the scallions and a wedge of lemon.