Friday, January 8, 2010

Pasta with Scallops and Lemon Butter Mustard Sauce


This recipe apparently was NOT a "winner" with my husband--he took a couple of bites and then asked me if I wanted to finish his portion. I knew when I was making it that there was a good possibility that he may not care for it. My husband has never tried scallops and I made the mistake of using the less expensive scallops for his "first time". Oops! I didn't go out and specifically buy scallops for this recipe--in fact, I've never even cooked with scallops before. I don't know if any of you have seen the little 4 oz bags that go on sale at Kroger periodically for $1.00, but I picked up a couple of packages a while back, figuring I'd give them a try. I, personally, didn't think they were "bad"--they obviously weren't as good as those really big scallops you get out, but the flavor was comparable. I really enjoyed the flavor of the dish and think that if my husband could have gotten past the idea of the scallops, that he might have actually enjoyed it. If any of you try it, I'd love to hear your feedback!

Pasta with Scallops and Lemon Butter Mustard Sauce

1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon lemon, zest of, grated
8 ounces bay scallops
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup low-fat butter
6 ounces pasta, cooked and hot (I used 8 ounces of angel hair and that made enough for 2 people).
1/4 cup chives, snipped (I only had dehydrated chives)
salt and pepper

Directions

Simmer wine and lemon zest in medium saucepan. Add scallops and cook and stir for 1 minute. Take out scallops, raise heat and reduce wine to about 1/4 cup.

Reduce heat to low, whisk in mustard, then butter, in small pieces. Add scallops and any juice and heat through. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve sauce over cooked pasta and sprinkle with chives. (I stirred my pasta in with my scallops to coat it well and then sprinkled some chives on top!)

Source: Recipezaar.com

9 comments:

  1. Wish I'd been there, I would have eaten his portion. Looks very good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hate it when that happens... then I end up feeling bad and making something else. It really stinks when I find something I LOVE and he HATES it, so I never end up making it again. I've never had good luck with scallops. The last time I tried them I was when I was still in high school. I begged mom to buy them for me at the grocery store because I of course thought I needed to diet (man I wish I had that body back!) and they were low fat. I cooked and ate them and have never gotten more sick in my life... don't know if it was bad scallops or if I was just getting sick. I also forgot when I bought them that I hate sea food and they tasted very fishy. That was it on the scallops for me!!! I just don't care for sea food... and maybe it's because I live in MO and of course have never had fresh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Big Dude"--thank you! It would have been nice to have shared the meal :)

    Heidi--I did feel awful! I offered to make something else, but he ended up eating the leftover bourbon chicken. I really try my hardest to pick recipes that I think he'll enjoy, so it's discouraging when he doesn't like something. Scallops are fairly "fishy" tasting, but he loves seafood--sometimes I think it's just in his head! Again, they weren't the best quality scallops, by any stretch of the imaginination, but they were edible :) I feel so badly for you that you got sick on scallops--there's nothing worse than getting sick from food! Even if it is just pure coincidence (and you did just have a stomach bug), it's so hard not to associate being sick with that type of food!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Scallops is probably one of the two seafoods Ole Sweetie-Pi will eat (the other being clams, but only in clam chowdah). I think he'd like this. I definitely do not like bay scallops, don't like the size or the flavor of them. The ocean scallops are much nicer, even if you have to cut them in half. To me they do have that "ocean" flavor, but are "sweet", not like sugar sweet, but, oh, how shall describe it, light, not a heavy fish fish. If they do, toss 'em out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Katy--I think I might have to splurge and buy the ocean scallops. I just wonder if I can convince my husband to try them again?!? I'm not sure if he just doesn't like scallops or if it's the way they were prepared?!? I'm fairly confident he would have liked them, had they been caked in breading!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my goodness, this is right down my ally! I LOVE seafood pasta and LOVE lemon sauces! I can't wait to give this recipe a try, it looks and sounds amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think that this looks delicious, but my husband would be with yours. This has two strikes against in his book: lemon AND scallops. Me, I never met a scallop I didn't like. Tonight I made oyster stew, just for me. I knew that rest of the family wouldn't touch it so they got Hamburger Helper. : )

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think it sounds lovely, a perfect dinner. My hubby would probably mirror what your husband did:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love scallops! Have to try this dish! YuM!

    ReplyDelete