I have always been cooking scallops because I found them hard, rubbery and a little bland, until a friend brings a surprise pasta dish with scallops in the garlic sauce. Yum. Thank you, Monica! Since then, I have seen them on sale in local supermarkets and I looked for the tips to prepare them.
I would like to share a few tips and my favorite garlic cream sauce recipe that only uses five ingredients and goes perfectly with any type of pasta – although I mainly use spaghetti or tagliatelle. The scallops are decided and therefore the dish ends up being an economic treat for an entire family. Pétons are a substitute for shrimp or lobster.
Locally, scallops are mainly frozen. First of all, you must defrost them, rinse them in the water and the first round, marinate them in a cup of milk for a few hours. This reduces fishing and makes them more creamy in flavor.
Ingredients:
1 lb of scallops
1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter. Unsalted is the best so that you can adjust the seasoning.
4 pods
1/3 cup of white wine like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio. The wine is optional. You can use chicken broth instead or leave it aside.
3/4 cup of thick cream, thickened cream or even evaporated milk.
1 tablespoon of lemon juice, just enough in a creamy sauce like this.
Persil or chives, optional, to garnish.
1 pack of pasta.
Instructions:
First, heat the water with a little salt for your pasta. The scallops only take four to five minutes to cook. This is the second key step. Heat them in an oiled pan with a little butter. You want them to eat and crisp to a golden brown on the top and bottom only. The first scallop should sizzle as soon as it strikes the oil. If not, wait and heat the pan before adding more.
Then use a large skillet or bake in prizes to make sure they are about an inch interval. Enter them without moving them for about two to three minutes on each side. More and they will be hard.
Put the pasta in hot water to cook. Then go directly to make your sauce. Melt the butter in the same pan as the scallops, scraping the delicious golden pieces. Add the garlic. Pour the dry white wine and reduce half. Add the cream, heat, but don’t boil or don’t burn. Simmer. Stir in lemon juice on the fire. Slice the scallops in four or six parts and add the scallops to the pan over heat to serve on the pasta. If you want to add a vegetable, trenched spring onions or frozen peas, work very well. They are added at the end.
(Enid Holden is a writer, artist and gourmet from Gunnison.)
