Seared Scallops on Angel Hair Pasta Nests in Vodka Cream Sauce – Recipe
Just cooked scallops on pasta with a homemade vodka cream sauce
Ingredients
Scale
- 6 Angel Hair Pasta nests or half a package angel hair pasta
- 8 scallops, thawed if frozen and dried
- 4 – 6 tomatoes
- 11/2 tsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- fresh ground pepper
- 1 TBS fresh herbs plus some for sprinkling – I used oregano, thyme and marjoram
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut the cores out of the tomatoes and cut them into chunks. If you can use more than one kind of tomato.
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed stock pot. Add the garlic and swirl until its scent is released.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and let the tomatoes cook until they are quite soft.
- Use an immersion blender to make a smooth sauce. If you don’t have an immersion blender carefully transfer the tomatoes to a regular blender and puree then return to the pot.
- Add salt and pepper but be light handed as the sauce is going to reduce. You will adjust the seasoning at the end.
- Add the vodka and let boil for at least a minute. Add the herbs, reserving some to sprinkle over the finished dish.
- Add the heavy cream. Let the sauce simmer while you prepare the rest of the meal.
- Set a large pot of salted water on to boil.
- Sear the Scallops: Make sure the scallops are dry. Season them on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat a non stick pan over med-high heat until hot. Sear the scallops until they get a nice brown color and cook for 2 minutes.
- Turn them over and cook for two minutes on the other side. You can see the nice color I got on the scallops with my new non stick pan. I used no oil in the pan at all! Set aside and keep warm.
- Cook the Pasta/Pasta Nests: follow the directions on your package – the ones I had indicated to bring a large pot of water to a boil then turn the heat off and let the nests sit in the water for 3 minutes, then drain.
- Put it all together: The vodka cream sauce will have reduced and thickened by a fair bit while you were preparing the scallops and pasta. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add a healthy amount of fresh ground pepper to taste.
- Put some sauce in the bottom of a bowl, add three pasta nests or a cup of pasta and top with four scallops. Drizzle with more of the vodka cream sauce. Sprinkle with the fresh herbs that had been set aside.