I’m back from Oregon! During my short trip to attend my step-fathers graduation, I picked up 6 bottles of Willamette Valley wine (mostly Pinot Noirs) and a sunburn (I didn’t get the memo about the 4 hour ceremony being outdoors). I actually got back on Monday, but the past 2 nights have been occupied working
Recipe by Marc Matsumoto on June 18, 2008
Prep time: PT5M
Cook time: PT10M
Total time: PT15M
Rating
5 stars (2 reviews)
Ingredients
1/2 pound dry bay scallops
1 tablespoon cultured unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small spring onion ((chopped))
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Pernod ((or other anise flavoured liqueur))
1/4 cup basil (chiffonade)
salt ((to taste))
pepper ((to taste))
220 grams pasta ((I used homemade pappardelle))
Categories
Entree
Cuisine
American
Steps
The trick with this recipe is to make the sauce ahead, then time the pasta and scallops so they are done at the same time. Depending on the type of pasta you're using it will take different amounts of time, so I'll leave it to your discretion as to when to start the pasta.
For the sauce, heat the 1 teaspoon olive oil in a pan. Sauté the 1 small spring onion until soft and starting to caramelize. Add the 1/2 cup dry white wine and 1 tablespoon lemon juice and reduce until thick and gluggy. Whisk in the 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 teaspoon Pernod and turn down the heat to keep it warm.
Clean and dry the 1/2 pound dry bay scallops. Heat a non-teflon pan over high heat until hot. Lightly salt and pepper the scallops. Add the 1 tablespoon cultured unsalted butter to the pan and swirl to melt. When the bubbling subsides add the scallops in a single layer without overcrowding the pan. Sear undisturbed until brown, then flip with tongs. Cook until the top 1/3 and bottom 1/3 of the scallop is opaque and the middle 1/3 is still translucent.
Transfer the scallops to a plate, then add the cream sauce to the pan that the scallops came out of and deglaze. All that brown fond on the pan adds umami to the sauce. Add the 1/4 cup basil to the sauce, then put the drained 220 grams pasta in the sauce and stir to coat.
Plate the pasta then top with the scallops and drizzle any remaining sauce on top.
