Seafood Pasta

This is my signature dish. The presentation is lovely.  I frequently prepare it for my friends and family, who always seem to enjoy it. I cook it differently according to the season. In the spring, I use asparagus. In the winter, I use  sun-dried tomatoes  from Trader Joe's. But right now, I have some wonderful tasting tomatoes from Robert's garden. You can make this with shrimp only and it will be just as good. Omit the seafood and you have a vegetarian entree. I use my homemade pesto when preparing this dish.c. At this point , my cooking is much better than my photography. You get the picture. I assemble everything on one plate. My husband broke my antique round serving plate one evening when washing the dishes, so all I have now are oval dishes. I have to tell you, he always cleans up my mess and washes the dishes after a meal. Bless his heart! I wouldn't do half the cooking if I had to clean up by myself.

It is important that everything is prepped ahead of time. The scallops and shrimp need to be dry. Heat the oil and butter in the frying pan until sizzling hot before you put the scallops in. Do not touch the scallops before you flip them over. ​

Have everything ready

Sautéing the vegetables

Keep vegetables warm

Make sure the scallops are dry

The shrimp should also be dry

Do not touch the scallops for one to two minutes before turning over, although be sure they don't touch each other while cooking.

This is how they look when you flip them over

Fresh fettuccine from Mike's Pasta in Santa Cruz

Ready to serve

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

 Serves 6

12 ounces of fresh fettuccine pasta 

2 cups of shiitake mushroom cleaned and sliced

11/2cups of thinly sliced zucchinis 

2 cups of chopped tomatoes 

1 pound or more of scallops 

1 pound of shrimp

Olive oil and 2 TBS of butter

2 TBS of fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese

1 cup of pesto

1/4cup of pasta water

​Directions: 

Get all the ingredients ready and within arms reach. Dry the scallops and shrimp in paper towels. Exchange the towels until they are dry. The scallops should be well dried, so that they sear properly . Generously salt and pepper the seafood shortly before you sauté them. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 TBS of salt to the water to cook the pasta. Sauté the mushrooms for several minutes, put in a bowl and sauté the zucchini and tomatoes in the same frying pan for several minutes, add them to the mushrooms. Add more olive oil and the butter to the frying pan and wait until everything is very hot before you add the scallops. Don't crowd the scallops and sear them for one to two minutes depending on the size. Do not touch the scallops before flipping them over towards the middle. They should have a light brown crust on one side. Keep them warm in a bowl. Add the shrimp to the frying pan and fry them until they turn pink, add the tomatoes and the other cooked veggies and scallops into the frying pan and heat everything up for about a minute or so. Be careful, you do not want to overcook the fish. There is nothing worse than leathery scallops and dry shrimp. In the meantime cook the pasta for about 2 to 3 minutes in boiling water until they are cooked al dente. Drain the pasta reserving some of the pasta water. In a bowl mix the pasta with the pesto and ¼ cup of pasta water. Put the pasta in the center of the plate, arrange the veggie and seafood around the pasta, sprinkle with basil. Pass the Parmesan in a different bowl.  

Guten Appetit
recipe by ©sunnycovechef