Salut, comrade!

With the weather heating up, my mind starts obsessing over bottles of fresh, crisp ice cold dry rosés and great food to go with them. This week one of my annual favorite rosés came out, the whimsically subversive Vino Pinko from John Paul at Cameron Winery. John's been making stunning pinots and chardonnays under his Cameron label here in Oregon for a long time, and he satisfies his jones for all things Italian by releasing some limited production wines under his Cameroni label. A pinot bianco, an Italian style white blend, a nebbiolo, and this crisply delicious pinot noir rosé. Che never looked so good!

So with all this good pink stuff swirling about satisfying my thirst, I naturally and inevitably start to get hungry. For me one of those ultimate food and wine hookups is rosé and shrimp. The acid and fresh berry flavors in a chilled dry rosé counter perfectly to the sweetness of fresh shrimp. We had mom over a couple of nights ago, and since it was an after work get together and I had been rocking hard at the wine shack, I wanted something fast and easy. This pasta we adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe off of the Food Network site is just the ticket for a warm summer evening and a cold bottle of rosé. Pass the pink, please!

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Shrimp Scampi with Linguini
adapted from Tyler Florence

1 pound linguini
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 large shallots, finely diced
10 cloves garlic, sliced
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
20 large shrimp, about 1 pound, peeled and deveined, tail on
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 to 1 cup dry white wine
2 lemons, juiced
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley leaves

For the pasta, put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. When it has come to the boil, add a couple of tablespoons of salt and the linguini. Stir to make sure the pasta separates; cover. When the water returns to a boil, cook for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the pasta is not quite done. Drain the pasta reserving 1 cup of water.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes (if using) until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper; add them to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan; set aside and keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley and cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over a bit more olive oil and serve immediately.