Pesto Pasta with Scallops

This meal is one of our favorites! I make this quite a bit and always change it up. I usually use a long stringy pasta and shrimp, but this time I made it with pasta shells (conchiglie) and scallops. This is a great one-pan meal, the kind of meal where you just keep layering flavor to a plan then serve hot. Deliciousness!

What You'll Need:

1/2 pound of pasta

2 1/2 T butter

1 1/2 T flour

1 1/2 C milk

1/2 C heavy cream

2 T pesto

3 cloves of garlic

2 T Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp pepper

1 pound of seafood

Broccoli or Asparagus 

Start by getting your water boiling. There's only two of us so I only used half a box of pasta. As far as pasta is concerned I'd have to say shells are the best for this sauce. This was the first time I used them but because of the shape, they held sauce the best. I don't think I'll ever use another type of pasta.

Start the sauce by making a roux. Do this by letting your butter melt in a hot pan then adding the flour when it's melted. Let it get a golden color.

When the roux is done pour in your milk and cream. Keep it on low heat to let the liquids thicken up a little. I know, I know, I'm not suppose to use cream because of fat or whatever... ehhh...

While the liquid is thickening run your seafood (scallops in this case) under water to defrost them. I love frozen seafood because you can buy it once and have it ready to add to anything you want. As for my vegetables I like broccoli and asparagus for this dish, but it's just a matter of what I have in my freezer or refrigerator. This time I had asparagus in those easy steam bags - 3 minutes and they're done. The kind of veggies I usually have range from fresh organic to frozen organic to cheap frozen. All of it works for me - and this dish, so work with what you got.

By now your sauce should be a little thicker so you can add your pesto, garlic, cheese, pepper and salt to taste. It's really hard to mess up the ratio because everything really goes together.

When that's mixed, add your scallops. Again, shrimp rocks in this too but scallops were on sale. You know how that goes.

Add your pasta to the sauce...

Then add the asparagus....and stir.

   

I threw some Texas Toast in the oven for 5 minutes and had an amazing dinner.  

This meal is so creamy! Seafood is perfect in this dish because it adds a pop of freshness in the rich sauce. It's one of those meals where you keep on eating even after you're full. If you ask me, those are the best kinds of meals! Enjoy!