Garlicky scallops and squid ink pasta

I love the dramatic contrast between black pasta and white scallops. My pantry is full of squid ink pasta that I picked up at Target, of all places. When my friend brought me some fresh scallops from the coast, I knew they were destined to marry with the black pasta. A while ago I tried these ingredients in a saffron sauce. This time I was looking for something with a good dose of garlic.

Jamie Oliver's cookbook Cook with Jamie provided exactly what I needed. He includes a recipe for making homemade squid ink pasta. Sounds delicious, but being a messy cook (one time my brother and I got chocolate on the ceiling of my mother's kitchen) did I really want to deal with squid sacks filled with blue-black ink? No.

So here it is:

1/2 lb or so of squid ink pasta
olive oil
8 or 10 large scallops, cut in half lengthwise and scored, seasoned w/ salt and pepper
1-2 red chili peppers, seeded and chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
a bunch of fresh, flat-leaf parsley
glass of white wine
2 T butter
juice from 1/2 lemon

Put the water on to boil for the pasta. While waiting for the water to boil, get all of the ingredients ready. Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook according the the package directions. When the pasta has 5 minutes left to cook, put two or three glugs of olive oil into a pan. When the oil is hot, add the scallops in one layer. Add the garlic and chili pepper. Turn the scallops over when they begin to brown after a couple of minutes. Add the white wine and reduce a little. Add the butter and reduce a minute or two longer. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Serve over the squid ink pasta. Garnish w/ chopped parsley

This dish is super quick, very tasty, and great when it's too hot to turn on the oven.