kcmike
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2011
- Location
- Kearney, MO
My buddy bet me I couldn't use any of our rubs with Italian seafood... I think I proved him wrong...
Pictured above are pan-seared wild caught U/10 sea scallops seasoned with one of our BBQ rubs accompanied by a side of capellini pomodoro.
Capellini Pomodoro is basically angel hair pasta tossed in a pan sauce made from extra virgin olive oil, diced Roma tomatoes, shallots, minced garlic and fresh basil. I don't have a whole lot of measurements for this one since I mostly do it by feel. But I suppose I started with about 3 lbs. of tomatoes, a few tablespoons of EVOO, 4 garlic cloves crushed and minced, 3 or 4 shallot bulbs minced, and a big handful of fresh sweet basil leaves chopped fine.
Start by sweating the diced shallots and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. Then add diced tomatoes and a few pinches of salt & pepper. Mix thoroughly and turn the heat down to low. Cover pan with tight fitting lid and allow tomatoes, shallots and garlic to simmer for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are thoroughly cooked down, but still retain some of their diced shape. If I had more time, I would have blanched and skinned the tomatoes before dicing them, but it works just fine if you don't. To finish the pan sauce, add finely chopped sweet basil and a couple more tablespoons of EVOO.
While you were doing all of this, you should have been cooking a pound of angel hair pasta in salted water. Drain the pasta well and add to pan with tomato/basil sauce and toss to thoroughly combine.
Now, it's time to move on to the scallops. I appologize for not having any pictures of this part of the process. I got carried away with the seasoning and searing and farking forgot to take any pictures...
Pan searing scallops is pretty straightforward and it doesn't take very long. Rinse your scallops briefly in cold water then pat them dry. I put some Oakridge BBQ Game Bird & Chicken rub in a shallow dish and dipped each scallop into it so it covered both of the flat sides and stayed mostly off the other "round" sides. Next, heat about a half stick of butter (not margarine, use real butter) in a 10 inch fry pan over medium high heat until it just begins to brown. Then, set your scallops in the hot butter and sear them on one rubbed side for about 3 minutes. With a pair of tongs, gently flip them over onto the other rubbed flat side and continue to cook them for another 3 minutes. Pull them from the pan, dust with a tiny bit more Game Bird & Chicken rub, and plate them up. And that's it.
