Pesto Scallops over Fettucine

Now that spring has sprung and summer is on it's way in New England, we're starting to enjoy the warm weather and our yard! After 2 straight weekends of weeding, mulching, shoveling, and preparing, our pool is up and running (yeah! No more sink holes from RI's great flood!) and our garden is planted and blooming!!

I only started gardening when we moved to our house. The previous owners had a raised bed garden. If we didn't replant, we'd have a large wooden 4 foot by 20 foot sandbox in our yard. Over the past 3 years we've learned some tricks of the trade. Our vegetable/herb garden is up and growing and this past weekend we enjoyed our first batch of homemade pesto.

                                                

Another great thing, we moved in next door to some great neighbors. Besides giving us information about the area and feeding the cats while we're away, our neighbor buys fresh RI seafood right off the fishing boats and sells to local businesses. We got to snag a few pounds of fresh scallops this weekend as well.

We made this recipe of pesto Scallops over Fettucine, although I used Linguine :)

Here's a snap shot of the dish and the recipe follows!

Home made Pesto

3 cups loosely packed Basil leaves

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

4 peeled garlic cloves

1/4 cup grated Parmesean

3/4 cup of oil

In a food processor, pulse together the first 4 ingredients (all but oil). Then slowly stream in oil. You can also add some salt and pepper to taste.

Reasons why I like this pesto: I'm not a huge fan of pine nuts. I think they add a bitter taste to pesto. I opted for the healthy alternative of walnuts. They still provide a nutty flavor. I also do not add as much oil as other pesto recipes you may see. I like the fresh basil taste of this pesto and saw no need to overload on oil. I typically add pesto to alot of pasta dishes. I find that when I use less oil, it sticks to the pasta better. If you like it more on the oily side, I would add 1 cup or 1 1/4 cup of oil.

Scallops Over Fettucine (or Linguine...)

1 pound fresh scallops rinses and patted dry

1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 cup mushrooms

1 small onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 TBSP white wine

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound Fettucine or any pasta

1/4 cup of pesto

Parmesean cheese to top

Fill pot for pasta with generously salted water and bring to a boil. Cook pasta. While pasta is cooking, coat a heated skillet with approx. 2 TBSP of EVOO. Saute onion until soft. Add green pepper and mushrooms. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic. Once veggies are cooked for an additional two or three minutes, add wine and lemon juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes and then add scallops. Cover the skillet and let the scallops cook (scallops typically take 3-4 minutes to cook, be careful not to overcook them- they can become rubbery when overdone).

Drain pasta. Immediately toss pasta with pesto.

Remove scallops from skillet and set aside. Add the vegetables in the skillet to the pasta and pesto. Toss well. Plate pasta and top with scallops. Sprinkle with Parmesean cheese.

Just an additional note-- I added more like 1/2- 3/4 cup of pesto vs. the 1/4 cup the recipe calls for. This dish was a perfect summer dish. We paired it with a nice chilled Pinot Grigio!