Shrimp Scampi Pizza Bread

mouth watering...

Imagine you are out to dinner at an Italian restaurant and you’ve ordered Shrimp Scampi as your entree with a side of Alfredo sauce and Garlic Bread. Wow! Look at you! You are good at ordering! Now take those 3 things and put them together on an open faced sandwich and you have this smart little recipe! Yup. You heard me. How does it taste? Insanely fricking good, right?!

I could have eaten all 4 servings of this recipe. You think I am exaggerating? I’m not. No joke. The crispy crunch of the bread is well matched with the creamy sauce-saturated bread! Then you have the garlic! The shrimp! The ricotta!  Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

Let’s get on with it!

You start by separating 12 cloves of garlic. 8 for smashing. 4 for chopping.

12 cloves of garlic....

Take the smashed garlic cloves and brown them in the olive oil. Set olive oil aside or leave it in the pan!

garlic, prepare to be browned!

Put the browned garlic in a food processor with a bunch of trimmed parsley. Whir it up!

browned garlic & parsley

Set aside some of the garlic & parsley mixture. Now add ricotta & Parmesan to what’s left. Mix it up!

ricotta parm party

Take the 4 chopped cloves of garlic and put it in the oil with some red pepper flakes. Let it sizzle.

garlic & red pepper flakes

Add your shrimp and cook. Then top with the reserved parsley mixture. Tada!

parsley shrimp garlic!

Smear the finished ricotta spread on top of your hunks of bread.

ricotta layer

Top with the shrimp. Sprinkle on some more Parmesan and shove it in the oven!

into the oven...

Serve with a salad…

shrimp scampi pizza!

Or not…there’s green in the ricotta mixture. That should be enough, right 😉

Shrimp Scampi Pizza Bread

(recipe adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine)

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 12 cloves garlic , 8 smashed and peeled and 4 finely chopped
  • 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, trimmed
  • 1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling
  • 2 lbs. shrimp, peeled, deveined & chopped
  • salt & pepper
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1 baguette, split lengthwise and quartered crosswise

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Cook the smashed garlic until golden, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer garlic to a food processor; reserve the oil.

Add the parsley to the garlic in the food processor and pulse to finely chop; set aside a 1/4 cup. Add ricotta and Parmesan to the food processor; pulse to combine.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. In the same skillet, heat the reserved olive oil on medium high heat. Add the chopped garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the shrimp, season with salt & pepper and cook, stirring until opaque, about 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved parsley-garlic mixture.

Spread the cheese mixture on the cut side of each piece of bread and arrange on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spoon the shrimp mixture on top and sprinkle with more Parmesan. Bake until cheese is melted, 7 to 10 minutes.

***It must be noted that I had some extra ricotta spread leftover. Perhaps I didn’t add enough to my bread? Also it’s a good idea to eat these RIGHT away. If it sits out, you lose the crispy bread situation. You don’t want to miss that.  The shrimp that I used were frozen cooked large shrimp. Because they were so big, I only needed 1 lb.***

  • Stacy

    OH Tracy – I love this idea! Yummy, gonna have to try this! I think I could even cook this on the grill the way we do grilled bread! Yummy!

  • Jenny Johnson

    WOWZA lady! Those look sooooo good. And your photography is AMAZING! Love your recipes. Found your blog via Frecklewonder.

    🙂

  • Julie (Bananas for Bourbon)

    Um yeah. Not much to not like about this dish. Holy smokes this sounds divine! It’s a great way to get all the flavors without eating a whole bowl of pasta or something. Very imaginative!

  • Erin

    YUM! I’m making that this week =)

  • mara z

    I made this last night for my sister and her boyfriend. I also only used 1 lb of shrimp. I thought I was just being miserly but it ended up being a perfect amount. I think next time I will use a little less parsley and amp up the red pepper flakes. Thanks for the awesome recipe!! 🙂

    • Tracy

      The red pepper flakes are key, huh? I’m glad it worked out for you! It’s totally going in my rotation 🙂

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  • Lezly

    Oh my gosh! I LOVE shrimp scampi and french bread pizza, I never thought of combining the two, bloody brilliant!

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  • Naomi

    Looks FANTASTIC!
    I have to tell you, I’m only a young adult and happened upon your website, but everything you make, makes my mouth water – the second I get my own apartment, I’m buying myself a juicer.

    One quick question with this recipe: what would you suggest for those who don’t eat seafood/pork?
    Also what would you suggest for those who are vegetarian?

    TIA! and thanks for all the amazing dinners I plan on making!

    • Tracy

      Naomi- Thanks! You are gonna love juicing (one day!) I bet it would be good with some roasted eggplant & peppers on top!

  • ebony

    i tried this recipe for lunch today and it was delish! i also had leftover ricotta mixture.

    one key addition i made, in the “scampi spirit”: lemon zest in the parsley mixture and a quick squeeze of lemon juice over the shrimp after taking them off the heat and spooning them over the bread…next level!

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  • Amber

    Well I am quite late in finding this. I am searching for killer/kick ass/double-triple garlic bread inspiration. Don’t get me wrong, I make a great fresh garlic bread but…. we are giving a Mardi Gras murder mystery dinner in 2 1/2 weeks and I want a garlic bread that will knock their socks off. I won’t be adding the shrimp this time because I just want bread, but the rest? I think I have found it. Thank you

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