spaghetti ai frutti di mare

Tonight's dinner:

Alas, the sauce is bottled: it's Prego. But the shrimp and scallops were all me, baby. I thawed them and placed them in separate bowls, then I salted them and tossed them in olive oil. After that, I seared them separately-- just enough to get the caramelization going, but not enough to cook them through. I then readied a separate skillet with a garlic-and-butter sauce (plus a dash of lemon juice), put the heat on medium-high, and cooked the little critters together, tossing in some dried basil toward the very end. I then drained the lot (should've kept that lovely liquid for dipping, but I didn't have any decent bread with me) and poured the red sauce over my creation.

Lemme tell you: the shrimp tasted fan-damn-tastic. The scallops were fine, very soft and delicious, but scallops in general are bland and somewhat sweet. I wish I'd had the money to do this right: I'd have added some chunky whitefish and calamari to the medley, along with a bit of white wine, and then it would've been a real party.

But I was right to pan-sear the seafood first. That definitely made the dish tastier.




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