Scallops - from Gulf to Table

Tara, Abe and Sara spent Friday out scalloping. They had quite an adventure (including grounding the boat on a sandbar) but came home happy and with a good catch.

Heading out Friday morning.

Scallops like the fine grasses better than the coarse grasses.

 "The catch."

Tara found this adorable little crab inside the shell while she and Abe were shucking.

 Heading back to dock

Sunday night, we had most of the gang over and I cooked up the harvest for everyone. Recipe follows photos. 

Sauteing the scallops in a little bit of butter in the cast iron skillet.

The final product = YUM!

Angel Hair Pasta with Bay Scallops, Roasted Summer Squash and Browned Butter Cream Sauce

Ingredients

7 small summer squash, chopped into bite size pieces (we used 2 zucchini and 5 yellow squash)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

salt

pepper

1 pound angel hair pasta, cooked al dente (5 minutes)

9 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh sage, minced

3 Tablespoons heavy cream

3/4 cup (or more) freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1 quart fresh bay scallops

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine squash, olive oil and salt and pepper in a large bowl, stir well. Pour squash onto a baking sheet (I line it with foil for easy clean up) and roast about 25 minutes or until caramelized, stirring every 10 minutes. Hold in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Cook pasta according to package instructions while preparing the sauce.

In a large pot (I used our dutch oven), melt the 8 Tablespoons of butter with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. When the butter is melted, add the sage and cook, stirring regularly, until the butter browns and begins to smell nutty. Stir in the cream and remove from heat. At this point, you can add the cheese but we used it as a garnish. When the pasta is cooked and drained, add it to the sauce and stir well so that the sauce coats the pasta well. Pour the pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl and spread the roasted vegetables around the perimeter.

Heat a medium size cast iron skillet on high to sear the scallops. Add a half a Tablespoon of butter to skillet and when it's melted, swirl it around and add 1/2 the scallops. Sear them for about 2 minutes, then stir gently. It's important not to overcook them so as soon as they look opaque, pour the scallops and any liquid from the pan on top of the pasta (which is now in the serving bowl). Repeat with an additional 1/2 Tablespoon of butter and the second half of the scallops.

Enjoy immediately. Serve with the grated parm on the pasta and vegetables.

Sauce recipe adapted from this one from Rachael Ray.