Tag: arugula pesto

Scallop Scampi with Arugula Salad

Scallop Scampi with Arugula Salad Italian dish number two is one of my favorites. I love making one pot meals- this one kind of fits the description. I especially love the arugula salad on top. I happen to have some arugula pesto but you can use regular basil pesto instead…

1 pound scallops, cleaned and dried
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 to 6 garlic cloves, mashed
½ cup white wine
1 cup diced tomatoes
½ pound pasta cooked al dente
½ cup saved pasta water

Heat a wide frying pan with the olive oil. Brown the scallops on both sides for a minute and keep aside. Add the garlic and sauté on medium heat. Add the white wine and tomatoes. Mix well and scrape any brown bits off the pan surface. Add the pasta and pasta water. Mix well and add the scallops. Cook for another minute and check for seasonings.

Arugula Salad

2 cups arugula, cleaned
2 tablespoons left over arugula pesto
Juice of half lemon
Salt

Place the arugula leaves in a medium bowl. Add the pesto, lemon juice and salt. Toss well and serve small mounds right on top of pasta.

Rigatoni with Fresh Tomato Sauce Topped with Sauteed Scallops and Served with Arugula Bruschetta

Fresh Pasta with fresh tomatoes and sauteed scallops

I have been so inspired by my one day cooking class with Paola in Spello, Umbria that all I want to do is cook fresh tomato sauce. The problem with doing that and writing a food blog is that I need to switch the recipe around a bit so I can post it and inspire other people to make it as well. With all the yummy tomatoes around in the farmer’s market and my back yard, I just couldn’t help myself today and made yet another fresh tomato sauce.

I went to Whole Foods and bought fresh rigatoni- I haven’t made boxed pasta since I came back from Italy- not sure how long this obsession will last.. My plan was to buy some jumbo shrimp and make a shrimp scampi pasta with tomato sauce. I was standing at the fish counter when I noticed beautiful sea scallops from NJ. I had to buy them since they were so local. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them but bought them anyway.

I came home and cut the fresh tomatoes up and started cooking them. I boiled the fresh pasta and brought it together with the tomato sauce. I sauteed the scallops on the stove- very quickly- that is the trick to really juicy and tender- do not over cook them. I placed them on top of the pasta.

I remembered the arugula pesto in the fridge and decided to serve a bit of that in the form of a bruschetta. All in all it was a delicious meal. The fresh pasta with the fresh tomato sauce was of course delicious. The sweet and tender scallops were yum and the arugula bruschetta was out of this world. A bottle of Malbec made it even better!

3 cups fresh plum tomatoes, cut into rough squares
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
Pinch of sugar
½ pound fresh rigatoni, cooked al dente (reserve ½ cup pasta water for the sauce)

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Cook on medium heat for at least 20 minutes or till the tomatoes start to get mushy and soft. Add the ½ cup pasta water and the al dente pasta. Mix well and check for seasonings.

Fresh pasta with fresh tomato sauce

Sauteed Scallops

1 pound sea scallops, cleaned
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Heat a non-stick frying pan on high heat. Add the olive oil and scallops. Add salt and pepper. Cook on each side for 2 minutes on high heat. Cook in two batches is the pan is not big enough.

Serve the pasta with 4-5 scallops on top. Toast some sliced baguette and top with the arugula pesto. Serve with the pasta.