Whip it up: Week 4 - Seared Scallops with Fresh Linguine and Romano Cheese

I can't believe that this cooking challenge is half over. So I really looked for a vegetarian recipe this week. I only planned for tonight and tomorrow and vegetarian just didn't seem to fit with either of these meals. I was looking through this month's Cooking Light and in my favorite section - 20 minute meals, I found this. For the record, the past is good enough to eat on its own, so you could totally make this as a vegetarian recipe and thus it could fit with this week's theme. Sorry there aren't more pictures, J mostly cooked this and I decided as it was coming to the table that it would be good enough to blog about so that's when I decided to take the first picture.

Here is the recipe.

Seared Scallops with Fresh Linguine and Romano Cheese

The key to obtaining the perfect sear on the scallops is to cook them in a very hot pan. Fresh linguine has a silky texture that provides a nice contrast to the browned crust on the scallops. Add mixed greens tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated linguine

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about 1 1/2 ounces) finely grated fresh Romano cheese, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 pounds sea scallops

4 lemon wedges

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 2 tablespoons pasta water. Combine pasta, reserved 2 tablespoons pasta water, 1/4 cup cheese, 1 tablespoon oil, chopped basil, and pepper in a large bowl; toss well.

2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Sprinkle salt evenly over scallops; add scallops to pan. Cook 1 minute on each side or until golden.

3. Place 1 cup pasta mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 3 scallops and 1 1/2 teaspoons remaining cheese. Serve with lemon wedges.

Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 495 (23% from fat); FAT 12.5g (sat 3g,mono 5.8g,poly 1.5g); IRON 5.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 110mg; CALCIUM 177mg; CARBOHYDRATE 42.4g; SODIUM 872mg; PROTEIN 51.7g; FIBER 1.9g

Cooking Light, AUGUST 2008

Question time:

Was the recipe easy to follow? Very - I love Cooking Light recipes. Except for those that ask for ingredients that are super specialized or hard to find, they are very accurate and easy to follow.

Did the dish taste good? Excellent. I love scallops and we get some great fresh linguine from the North Market so its almost impossible to mess up unless you over cook the pasta - which I didn't.

Would you ever make it again? For sure - easy, tastes good, fast, and uses little dishes - always a repeat performer in my book. I would just want to do something to avoid the pan looking like this after I seared the scallops :)