On the menu tonight – Scallops Provencal over Pasta!
After having made seared scallops countless times, I wanted to do something a little different. I had plenty of white wine butter sauce left over from a recent dish and thought it would go perfectly with scallops and pasta. It DID!
For the pasta, I used buccatini. It was good, but it wasn’t the right noodle for this application. Somewhere, someone said that every pasta has a purpose. They were RIGHT! This dish, in my humble opinion, requires a more delicate pasta. Angel hair pasta or vermicelli would have been better choices and I’ll use one of those the next time I make this dish.
Similar to seared scallops, this dish goes together pretty quickly. The extra time is going to be spent making the sauce and making the pasta.
Despite my pasta choice, this dish STILL turned out really well. I hope you’ll make your own version and let me know how it goes!
Scallops Provencal over Pasta
Scallops Provencal over Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb Scallops, bay or sea
- 1 cup All-purpose flour, for dredging
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons butter, 1/2 stick
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 lb pasta, angel hair or vermicelli
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil
If you haven't already, pat the scallops dry. If they are wet, you won't get a good sear.
In a 13x9 baking dish or a pie tin, put in the flour and season it with salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
Put the scallops in the flour and thoroughly coat. I put the scallops in a colander or strainer and shake off the excess flour. You just want a light coating of flour.
In a large pan, over high heat, put enough butter to coat the entire pan, but not so much the scallops would be swimming in butter.
Place the scallops in the pan one at a time, starting at the 12 o'clock position and going clockwise until you've added all the scallops. Leave at least a half inch between the scallops and feel free to put some in the center as well - just keep track of the order you put them in the pan because you only need to sear them about 90 seconds each side before they are done.
After all the scallops are in the pan, I'll wait about another minute and I start flipping them in the order I put them in the pan.
They should have a nice light brown sear.
Cook them on the other side for a minute to 90 seconds and then remove them.
Lower the heat to medium, if you haven't already, add the rest of the butter, shallots, garlic, and parsley, saute for 2-3 minutes, then add the wine.
Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Drop the pasta in the boiling water and cook to pkg directions.
When the pasta is done, reserve a cup of the cooking liquid and then drain the pasta.
I add the pasta to the butter and wine sauce, and add the lemon zest and juice, mixing to coat all of the pasta with the lovely sauce. If you need some additional sauce or what you have isn't thick enough, you can add some of that reserved pasta water.
Plate some of the pasta and add scallops on top, then sprinkle a little of the chopped parsley. I'll also usually have some lemon wedges in case anyone wants extra lemon to sprinkle on top.