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Back to Basics: Luxurious linguine
Linguine Fini with Bay Scallops and Fresh Herbs is a light, easy meal to enjoy the last days of summer
Linguine Fini with bay scallops is the perfect recipe for the end of summer when it is still reasonably warm and Mother Nature is motivating us to stay away from heavier meals. While this recipe is a delicious and filling comfort meal, it also is very light and refreshing thanks to the lemon undertone and use of fresh herbs.
At this time of the year, many of us have fresh herbs in the garden that we want to use in the best possible way – and this recipe does exactly that. Those without gardens can buy them cheaper at most stores in comparison to the winter months. This meal is a very fast and easy meal to prepare, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time outdoors enjoying these last few long days of summer.
For the preparation of this meal, as well as most other pasta, I always select a large stir fry pan (similar to a wok) or a large saute pan (a flat pan with large edges). These can accommodate the sauce and the noodles at the same time. If you want an authentic meal exploding with flavor, forget preparing the sauce in a separate pan and then pouring it over cooked noodles. This recipe calls for you to add the noodles directly into the pan with the sauce to finish the meal. Thanks to this important step, the sauce coats the noodles, and every bite has the perfect ratio of noodles to sauce. It doesn’t take much extra time, but the difference will be worth it.
The best pasta is made from scratch, but I understand that not everyone is willing to prepare pasta from scratch every single time. If you want to see my basic pasta recipe and make this meal really special, it is included. If not, I would recommend purchasing good-quality egg pasta and cooking it according to the instructions on the packaging. This recipe asks for linguine fini (a skinny version of linguine), but you can substitute it with regular (thicker) linguine or even with spaghetti or fettuccine.
For less experienced chefs, I recommend cooking the pasta first and, during this time, prepare the other ingredients. This way you will prevent overcooking the bay scallops or prevent them sitting out and getting cold. If the cooked pasta must wait to be placed into the sauce, it is important to spread it out on a baking sheet to prevent overcooking (hot pasta in the colander is still cooking).
Butter sauce with scallops is a very simple sauce to prepare. Just follow the recommended stove top heat to not burn the butter, and if your stove is more powerful, consider lowering the heat.
First, you need 1/4 cup of oil placed into the pan on medium-high heat, and if your pan is large, you may want to add even more if needed. Then, add sliced garlic and chopped herbs. If you don’t want to bother with slicing garlic, feel free to use a garlic press, but you may miss some visual effects. Use herbs of your choice or what you have available. My favorite combination includes basil, sage, mint, rosemary, and parsley, but other herbs work well, just make sure to remove the wood-like stems if present.
Next, finely chop the herbs and saute them with garlic while stirring until the herbs infuse the oil and the garlic gets a nice appetizing sear (about 2 to 4 minutes). Always make sure that you have enough oil in the pan (herbs should never be on a dry spot of the pan). Then, lower the heat to medium, add butter, salt, and pepper, and let it fully melt.
During this time, thoroughly rinse the bay scallops to remove surface bacteria. Optionally, you can substitute bay scallops for finely sliced raw chicken breast, which works great with this recipe, too. But bay scallops are, flavor-wise, the best fit for this meal, and they also bring excellent health benefits.
Bay scallops (and any other kind of scallops) are rich in vitamins and minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids, which many of us don’t get enough of in our diet. Omega-3 fatty acids help to prevent heart disease and strokes and help to increase brain function, such as improve memory, increase learning, improve cognitive function, etc. Omega-3 fatty acids are heavily present mainly in fish and seafood. But, getting enough of it can be challenging, especially while living in Iowa, where access to fresh quality fish and seafood is limited. It’s for this reason that I chose scallops to be the hero protein of the dish.
When the butter is melted, add the bay scallops and cook with occasional stirring until done, which takes about 2 to 4 minutes. Do not overcook the bay scallops to prevent getting an unpleasant rubbery texture. If you are not familiar with how to cook scallops, cook scallops for about 3 minutes and then check with a food thermometer in the center of the largest scallop to make sure that you have reached the minimum safe internal temperature of 145 degrees (extend the cooking time accordingly if needed).
Finally, add the cooked and drained pasta. Using tongs, stir the pasta with the sauce until it is nicely combined and the sauce gets absorbed into the pasta. Remove from the stove and add grated Parmesan and juice from one lemon. Thoroughly (but still gently) stir together using tongs until nicely combined. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
Place the pasta in the center of the plate using tongs (try to create a twist effect during plating). Then sprinkle with grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper, and optionally also with some freshly chopped herbs.
With these few easy steps, you get a pasta meal prepared better than in many restaurants. Enjoy this perfect meal with a nice glass of dry white wine (preferably Italian). Buon Appetito!
Please see the enclosed recipes for the complete step-by-step directions and the list of ingredients and kitchen tools.
You can find more of my recipes at www.cookinghub.com. Enjoy your meal!
Tom Slepicka is the founder of www.cookinghub.com, and is a recipe creator, culinary instructor, chef, and a consultant. You can reach him at tom@cookinghub.com.
Good to know
It is not necessary to add salt or oil to the water for cooking pasta. If you add any of these, it will create no harm but it will not add any advantage. Pasta should always be seasoned by coating with a seasoned sauce. The oil will give you absolutely no benefit at all.
Use tongs with a silicone tip to cook and plate pasta. Silicone tips will be gentler than regular metal ones and make the whole process easier. To prevent injury and work effectively, I would recommend selecting tongs that are 12 inches long.
The best way to test if pasta is cooked is to depend on your own senses and not just follow any instructions to the T. When you believe that pasta should be fully cooked, take one out and taste it. It should still be at least a little “al dente” (a little bit firmer when you bite) because the pasta will be finished later in the sauce, which will add some extra cooking time. On the other hand, it should be at the stage where you can imagine eating it even without placing it in right away.
The most common types of scallops are bay scallops and sea scallops (often marked just as scallops). Bay scallops are smaller, while sea scallops are regular size (about 3 times larger than bay scallops). Bay scallops are caught in the cold and shallow water of estuaries and bays. Sea scallops are caught in cold seawater. The flavor is similar; some may say that sea scallops are a little chewier than bay scallops. Bay scallops are significantly more cost-effective than sea scallops and can be found in the freezer section of most Iowa stores.
Recipes
Linguine Fini with Bay Scallops and Herbs
4 servings
Active Time: 25 min./Total Time: 25 min.
Ingredients:
Pasta & Butter Sauce:
4 servings of linguine or other kinds of pasta (store-bought or homemade)
1/4 cup of frying oil, adjust if needed
1/2 cup of herbs of your choice, finely chopped*
10 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 stick (1/4 pound) butter, cut into a few pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, ideally freshly ground
1 pound bay scallops – fresh or defrosted
1 cup of grated Parmesan
Juice from 1 lemon
* The amount of herbs is approximate, and it is measured before chopping. Optionally, you may have to increase up to 1 cup of herbs. The combination of herbs is up to you and what you have available. My favorite combination includes basil, sage, mint, rosemary and parsley, but other herbs would work too.
Final touch:
Grated Parmesan or Parmesan shavings
Salt and pepper, ideally freshly ground
Optional: Freshly chopped herbs
Directions:
For the pasta: Cook your pasta (follow the instructions on the box for cooking store-bought pasta), then drain the water by pouring the pasta over a colander. Cook linguine to very al dente since it is a fragile kind of pasta and will finish cooking during the finishing cooking phase.
Or prepare and cook homemade pasta, and then drain with a colander. (Do not leave your pasta to rest in the colander. It is still cooking, and because of the hot temperature of the pasta, you can end up with overcooked pasta. Use the pasta immediately in the next step or place the pasta to cool on a baking sheet if you need more time and keep occasionally stirring to prevent overcooking before you further cook with the pasta.)
For) the Butter Sauce with Scallops: Preheat the stir-fry pan on medium-high heat with 1/4 cup frying oil and add: 10 cloves of garlic, sliced; and 1 cup herbs of your choice, finely chopped. Saute with occasional stirring until the garlic is cooked – get a light appetizing sear (about 2 to 4 minutes).
Reduce heat to medium and add: 1 stick of butter – cut into a few pieces 3/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper. Let slowly melt with occasional stirring.
Add bay scallops and cook in melted butter with occasional stirring until fully cooked (about 2 to 4 minutes). (Check with the food thermometer in the center of most giant bay scallop to make sure that you have reached the minimum safe internal temperature, which the U.S. Departmnet of Agriculture lists as 145 degrees.)
Add cooked pasta. Cook with constant stirring with tongs until the butter gets absorbed into the pasta and all ingredients nicely combine (about 1 minute).
Important: Stir pasta gently with tongs with silicone tips to prevent ripping the noodles. It is also important to gently scoop up part of the noodles and fold a section of noodles over as a part of the stirring process.
To complete the meal: Take the pan off the burner and add 1 cup of grated Parmesan and juice from 1 lemon. Turn and thoroughly (but still gently) stir together using tongs.
Taste and add salt or pepper if needed.
For plating and serving: Place the pasta in the center of the plate using tongs (try to create a twist effect during plating). Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, freshly ground salt and pepper. Optionally, also sprinkle with finely chopped fresh herbs.
Source: Tom Slepicka
Basic Pasta Recipe
4 servings (about 18 oz of dough) or 12 sheets of pasta
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 45 min
This recipe can be used for:
Linguine, Linguine Fini and any kind of pasta
Includes also lasagna, tortellini, ravioli
Noodles for soups
Ingredients
Basic egg pasta dough:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour + extra for flouring surface and pieces of dough during preparation
4 large eggs (or 5 small)
1 teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil
This basic egg pasta recipe is a great and very tasty universal pasta recipe that works perfectly for all pasta shapes listed below and for many other kinds. I have had great success in preparing any pasta meal using this dough, so having a slightly different dough for each kind of pasta is not necessary. However, you can still discover specific pasta dough recipes for certain shapes.
Tools:
Large stock pot or sauce pot (about 8 quarts or more)
Kitchen Mixer with Hook Attachment or Large Mixing Bowl
Dough cutter or bowl scraper
Rolling pin
Kitchen mixer with pasta sheet maker attachment or pasta machine
Freezer bag of plastic wrap
Tongs with heatproof silicone tips or regular tongs
Colander
Optionally, the recipe can be prepared on a flat surface, but I recommend using one of the listed options.
Directions:
For the pasta dough: Place all ingredients into the kitchen mixer with a hook attachment -- 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 4 large eggs, 1 teaspoon olive oil. Process on medium-slow speed until all ingredients are partially combined (about 1 to 2 minutes). Then, increase speed to medium-high and process into a compact dough (about 3 to 6 or even 10 minutes).
If the dough crumbles too much, stop the mixer and knead the dough for a few seconds by hand. Then, continue processing with a mixer until a compact dough is formed.
If the dough is too sticky, consider adding more flour (1 tablespoon at a time). Then, process until you reach a compact dough.
Remove dough from the mixer bowl, place into a sealed freezer bag (try to reduce the amount of air), and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature before the next step (do not put it into the refrigerator as the dough would start turning black).
Tip: If you are busy and don’t have time to wait, you can optionally skip the resting time without significant consequences.
Pre-form the dough: Place the dough on a floured working surface and, using a dough cutter, separate into 6 pieces (lengthwise).
Generously flour all pieces, and using a rolling pin, flatten into sheets about 1/4 inch or less thick and again generously flour.
Forming basic pasta sheets: Set the pasta maker (sheet roller) to 1 (maximum thickness) and process into sheets on high speed. Then fold each processed sheet in half and process again (feed the folded side into the pasta sheet roller on high speed). Repeat about 3 to 5 times to reach a nice smooth and pliable consistency. Important: Dust between most of the folds to start forming a compact dough and to incorporate more flour into the dough.
Note: Always fold into half, either by the width or lengthwise, based on how wide the dough is (a dough with a thickness of 1 should have a width at most 1/2 of the width of the pasta roller). Optionally, fold the dough or even cut it into half (lengthwise) if the dough is getting too wide.
Dust each finished pasta sheet with flour.
Final pasta dough forming: Form the pasta by continuing with the sheet roller, working gradually from a lower to a higher number until you reach the desired thickness.
For linguine/linguine fini: The desired thickness 5 for regular linguine or 6 or 7 for linguine fini
Important: Numbers reflect the KitchenAid attachment pasta sheet roller, where 1 is thicker and 8 is thinner. You may have to adjust this if your pasta roller has a different numbering system.
Switch the sheet roller with the pasta cutter (spaghetti cutter or fettuccine cutter) and cut pasta sheets into noodles.
For cooking
For linguine/linguine fini, the cooking time is about 30 to 90 seconds (with dense dough, it may take a little longer).
Cook pasta in boiling water until “al dente” (a little firm when you bite).
Drain the water by pouring the pasta over a colander, and from here, follow your pasta recipe.
Important: Do not let the pasta rest in the colander. It is still cooking, and because of the hot temperature of the pasta, you can end up with overcooked pasta.
Use the pasta immediately or place it to cool on a baking sheet if you need more time (distribute it around the baking sheet).
Source: Tom Slepicka
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