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.

Scallops with saffron and squid ink linguine

I bought some black, squid ink linguine at Target, of all places, several weeks ago. I found a recipe online and tried it last weekend. I was intrigued by this recipe because of the saffron. I love it and it works well with seafood, as I found out when I ate the delicious bouillabaise at Vin Rouge not too long ago. It's a delicate balance though. Too much saffron overpowers the subtlety of the scallops. Not enough saffron just makes the sauce yellow, so start conservatively and add a few threads until you get the taste you like. I usually crumble the saffron between my fingers when I add it to a sauce.

The recipe turned out very well even though I substituted frozen peas for fresh snow peas which are not really in season yet. Be very generous with the butter in the sauce. I used a dry white Burgundy in the sauce. It was YUMMY. My beau was highly impressed (though, happily, he is not hard to please). The scallops should cook as little as possible because they very quickly turn into hockey pucks!

1/2 pound sea scallops
1/2 pound squid ink linguine
1/2 pound snow peas
For the Saffron sauce:
1/2 cup finely minced shallots
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 to 2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces
1 pinch saffron threads
Fresh lemon juice
Salt and white pepper to tasteBring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, about 10 minutes.

Make the saffron sauce. In a heavy saucepan combine shallots and white wine. Reduce to 2 tablespoons and then add saffron threads and 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream. Place pan over high heat and whisk in butter a piece at a time, adding the next piece before the last one has completely melted, stirring constantly. Do not allow mixture to boil. Add fresh lemon juice and salt and white pepper to taste.

Place scallops in a steamer over simmering water and steam for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add snow peas and steam 1 minute more. Transfer linguine to a plate, top with scallops and snow peas and top with sauce.