Tonnarelli ai Canestrelli (Tonnarelli with Scallops)

I made this with tortellini and about 25% more scallops than called for, and it was tasty; the writeup is for the original recipe. Hazan suggests spaghetti or spaghettini as alternates, but also says to reduce the olive oil from ½C to ⅓C when doing so.

The biggest problem I had here is not overcooking the scallops; the finely chopped ones released a lot of liquid, which meant the long simmer to cook it off also overcooked them somewhat. It was still tasty, but they lacked the buttery texture of perfectly cooked scallops.

Tonnarelli ai Canestrelli

The Classic Pasta Cookbook by Guiliano Hazan (p.107)

Ingredients

• 120mL olive oil
• 2-4 cloves minced garlic
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 450g bay scallops, ¼ of them finely chopped
• salt
• 60mL panko or breadcrumbs, toasted

Directions

1. Combine the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large skillet.
2. Cook over medium-high heat until the garlic starts to change colour.
3. Stir in the parsley, then add the whole scallops and season with salt.
4. Cook, stirring, until they are no longer translucent, 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the chopped scallops and cook for another minute, then remove from the heat.
6. Cook the pasta al dente, then drain and toss it with the sauce and breadcrumbs.

Tonnarelli ai Canestrelli

We made this with minor variation; symbol brought home half a pound of discount scallops, and we had about 200g of corn spaghetti that needed to be used up, so I combined the two to make a half batch of this recipe. I've written up the original recipe here, using 1lb of scallops and tonnarelli.

It comes together very quickly, and you can skip toasting the bread crumbs if you want to.

Tonnarelli ai Canestrelli (Tonnarelli with Scallops)

The Classic Pasta Cookbook, p.107

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried pasta
• ½ C + 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼-½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 lb scallops, of which ¼ are finely chopped
• ¼ C breadcrumbs, toasted

Directions

1. Begin bringing the water for the pasta to a boil.
2. While that happens, put ½ C of olive oil, the garlic, and the red pepper flakes in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook until the garlic turns fragrant, ~30 seconds.
3. Stir in the parsley.
4. Add the whole scallops, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until they are no longer translucent, 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the chopped scallops and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.
6. Remove from the heat.
7. Cook the pasta al dente.
8. Drain pasta and toss with the scallops, remaining olive oil, and bread crumbs.
9. Serve as is or with parmesan.

I had been hoping to try out a chile-garlic shrimp recipe for dinner tonight, but I couldn't find the issue of Cook's Country with the recipe! I opted for a shrimp Creole instead. But we were a bit shy on shrimp, so I tossed in some scallops as well. I think it worked nicely!

Seafood Creole

Adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2019

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 bell pepper¹, finely chopped
• 6 Tbsp. finely chopped celery
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme²
• 1/2 Tbsp. Creole seasoning
• 6 Tbsp. dry white wine
• 1 1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 2 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 450g seafood of choice
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 scallions, sliced thin
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add flour and cook until roux turns the colour of peanut butter (3-5 minutes).
3. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, thyme, and Creole seasoning and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add wine and cook until nearly evaporated (~3 minutes).
5. Add tomatoes, broth, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Season seafood with salt and pepper and add to sauce.
8. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through (~5 minutes but will vary depending on type and size of seafood).
9. Remove from heat and stir in scallions and lemon juice.
10. Serve over rice.

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¹ Green bell pepper is the classic choice here. I didn't have green so I used orange. ^Back
2 If you have fresh thyme, use it! I didn't so I used dried. For fresh, you'll want ~1/2 Tbsp. ^Back

Seared Scallops with Couscous Salad

I've been leaning pretty heavily on the Cook's Country "30 minute supper" recipe cards lately. The original version of this recipe came off of one of them. That said, I changed it pretty significantly. The original recipe called for making a very simple couscous side/salad using instant couscous, tomatoes, parsley, and olive oil. That was then served with scallops seared in olive oil and topped with a pickled pepper-orange-scallion salsa/chutney. I changed things up a little bit when I put mine together.

Couscous Salad
Adapted from Cook's Country August/September 2015 and The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert
1 lb. instant couscous
4 c. vegetable stock (or vegetable trimmings/peels + water)
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
4 Tbsp. butter
1 (375mL) jar pickled pepperoncini peppers, minced
1/4 c. pickled pepper juice, or more to taste
1/4 c. + 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
juice and grated rind of one orange
4-5 tomatoes, chopped
8 scallions, sliced thin
1 c. fresh cilantro (or parsley), chopped
1/2 tsp. pepper

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (optional)

1. Put stock on to boil. Set a colander on top of the pot and seal the edges so that steam only rises through the colander. Line colander with cheesecloth.
2. Add 2 c. of cold water to couscous. Stir it around to break up any clumps, let stand for a minute or two, then drain.
3. Dump couscous into cheesecloth lined colander and steam for 20 minutes.
4. Lift cloth out of colander and dump into large shallow plate/pan. Rake and break up any clumps with a whisk. Stir in 1 c. of water and a tsp. each of salt and oil. Allow to stand 10 minutes.
5. Rake again and break up any clumps. Place cheesecloth back in colander and dump the couscous back in. Steam for another 20 minutes.
6. Lift cloth back out of colander and rake couscous again. Stir in another cup of water, but do not add any more salt or oil. Let stand 10 minutes.
7. Rake and put couscous and cheesecloth back in colander and steam for a final 10 minutes.
8. Remove couscous from colander, break up any lumps and stir in 1 c. of broth and 4 Tbsp. of butter.
9. Combine cooked couscous with remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy warm or chilled.

Seared Scallops
400g large sea scallops
1 Tbsp. garlic butter
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Pat scallops dry with a paper towel and melt butter in pan.
2. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on scallops and sear in butter over medium-high heat. They should only need about 1 1/2 minutes per side, two minutes at the absolute maximum.
3. If desired, deglaze the pan with a little broth and pour over the scallops.
4. Serve immediately over warm couscous salad.

I realize that the multiple couscous steamings may seem a bit labour-intensive and daunting, but it really does make a huge difference to the texture and final result! I can't stand instant couscous prepared according to the box (pour hot/boiling water over and let stand for a few minutes). But properly steamed couscous? I can't get enough of it! It's delicious! Seriously. I promise that it's worth every minute of extra time it takes to do it this way. Besides, waiting for it to steam gave me time to do all the chopping and other prep work for the recipe, so it didn't really add that much to the overhead. If you've never tried steamed couscous before, definitely give it a try. You're in for a treat!