Linguine with Scallops and Red Peppers
March 14th, 2007 - No Comments »
This was a great dinner tonight… serve with a salad with homemade lime vinaigrette and a nice Sauvignon Blanc (St. Supery in our case.) Bay scallops are relatively inexpensive, and this is a great quick way to use them.
extra virgin olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips (about 1/4″)
1/2 lemon
the zest from that 1/2 lemon
2 tsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup or so of the wine you’re drinking with dinner (dry white)
1 tsp. chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)
1 lb. bay scallops (fresh or defrost until a warm tap for a couple of minutes and drain)
1/4 cup chopped basil (since it’s not exactly the season, I use 2 Tbsp. jarred from Christopher Ranch.)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese
salt/pepper
8 oz. good fettucine
Boil a bunch of water with salt. Cook the fettucine in the water until al dente while doing the rest.
Start by putting a little (2 tsp or so) of olive oil into a non-stick skillet, and heating until hot. Lower the heat to medium high and add the pepper strips, and cook until they are past soft and starting to brown. Remove the pepper strips to a bowl (don’t drain) and leave any juice and the oil in the skillet. Return the skillet to the heat.
Melt the butter in the oil. Squeeze the 1/2 lemon into the skillet — it’s good if pulp gets in there, but try to avoid the seeds. Add the wine and stir to mix, then (it should be boiling by now) add the garlic. Boil for minute or so. Add the scallops and some salt and pepper to taste, and stir (if they were recently frozen in may take a minute or two to boil again). Stir in the lemon zest. Cook until they are done — probably about 2 minutes, but possibly at long as 4 (if they start to shrink and give up their liquid, you’re done). Remove the scallops from the pan, leaving the liquid in there. (I do this by pouring the scallops and liquid into a colander over a bowl, and pouring the liquid from the bowl back into the pan.) Boil down the liquid by about 2/3, to 1/4 cup or so. (don’t bother measuring it).
Add the basil to the liquid and stir, then add back in the peppers and scallops and heat for a minute or so. Add in the parsley and stir until it wilts (shouldn’t take long).
Remove from heat, toss with the fettucine and asiago cheese.
PS… picked up the Stax 50th Anniversary CD Set tonight (10.99 on sale at Best Buy!)… great!