Blackened Scallops Over Light Pasta

It was a dark and stormy Thursday night and our usual chef had had a long day at work, so Eric went for the combo: Head Chef and Photographer. Never doing that again. How anyone in their right mind thinks it’s a good idea to try to sauté mushrooms and onions, prepare a rub, defrost scallops dredge said scallops and operate a camera while making sure the pasta does not get overdone all at the same time is beyond me. It came together right at the end, somehow or another, but not an experience anyone wants again anytime soon. It’s a good thing the dish was worth it. Very much worth it. The scallops were blackened in a pepper mixture and the pasta was drizzled in extra virgin olive oil and butter. Even with all the butter, this was one of the healthiest meals anyone’s ever felt the need to brag about. This is a super easy meal, as long as your not trying to do everything all at once and take pictures.

Chef’s note: the recipe has a lot of pepper in it. I mean a lot a lot. If I did it again, I would probably cut down the Cayenne Pepper a pinch. This was also a total leftovers meal, so a lot of the discrepancies between the original and mine have to do with item availability. That and the fact that I hate the texture of tomatoes. So here’s the Foodies@Home rendition of Blackened Scallops Over Pasta.


Pictures and Recipe after the break

Makes 2 servings:

Pasta
What you need
2 servings worth of Pasta (we used spaghetti, may use angel hair)
1 cup Mushrooms, chopped.
½ Yellow Onion (may use Sweet Onion)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter
Pinch of salt

Start your water for pasta first. Put 2 pats butter in a frypan on high heat. Sauté onions until clear, toss in the mushrooms until done, and set the pan aside. When the water boils add pasta, and a pinch of salt. You should always add a pinch of salt when cooking Italian pastas, just incase you didn’t know that. I added a dash of olive oil to the water for flavor. The pasta should be done just about the time your scallops are, so keep an eye on things.

Pepper RubWhat you need:
¼ Tbsp salt
1/3 Tbsp White Pepper
1 Tbsp course ground black peppercorn (fresh ground if possible)
¾ tsp Cayenne Pepper
½ tsp Garlic Salt with Parsley (this is a type sold at Safeway, by far the best)
1/8 tsp dried Thyme Leaves

Add all these into a bowl. Rub complete.

Blackened Scallops:What you need:
½ pound Scallops
Pepper Rub
Butter

Dry scallops completely with a paper towel. Dredge each scallop top and bottom through the rub. Put 3-4 pats of butter into a frypan on high heat(should completely cover the bottom of your frypan when melted). When the butter is melted, add scallops, cooking 2-3 minutes per side. Don’t overcook or the rub will stick to the pan and not the scallops. As the scallops are just about done reheat mushrooms and onions.

Plate pasta first, drizzle liberally with olive oil, set a pat of butter on top. Cover with onions and mushrooms and arrange scallops on top.