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!   

Spreads & Other Snacks for "Grown Ups"

I dedicate this post to World Market and my fellow foodies who go shopping when they're hungry. There's no denying it, and I applaud you for it because this is when I find some of my favorite snacks. Mike and I went to World Market today to look around and came out with some great stuff - including a much needed lamp shade. But food-wise we scored some new snacks too. We ended up with some Scottish strawberry champagne preserve, Cafe Du Monde beignet mix, two plates, and a little dipping dish - all for just over $26! We decided to wait on the beignets (as hard as it was) and picked up a baguette to try the preserves instead.

I was really excited to try this because the cashier lady said it was one of her favorites. Really, at that point I was so hungry I would have tried it regardless. 

My new little dish :)

I washed some grapes I had in the fridge and decided to see what else we could snack on. I had some dried cranberries leftover from my Cranberry Orange Scones so I took them out too. All we had to buy was a "rustic sweet baguette" loaf. It must have been destiny (or at least luck) because we got the last fresh loaf.

We sat down on the couch (turned on the television) and got ready to try our little snack feast. The preserves were so delicious but they were definitely on the sweet side. We needed something to cut down on the sweetness so I brought out some brie (the Laughing Cow brand) that I had in my fridge. I put some cheese on a piece of bread then some preserves - foodie heaven, let me tell you!! The brie made it really creamy. I absolutely love strawberry jam and this one is definitely a keeper. It had a slightly stronger taste and a more intense flavor. I loved it!

     

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Oh, here's a little extra info about the difference between jelly, jam, and preserves - for anyone, like me, who didn't know until today. According to TLC Cooking,

• In jelly the fruit comes in the form of fruit juice
• In jam the fruit comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit
• In preserves the fruit comes in the form of chunks

After snacking on this for a while we decided we wanted a more savory spread - but that's one thing I didn't have laying around in my fridge.... so we made a pesto butter. It was so simple to make. 

What You'll Need:

1/2 a stick of butter

3 tsp of pesto

salt and garlic powder to taste

Make sure the butter is room temp and mix your pesto in. Add your seasonings to taste. When it's how you want it, put in in the fridge for 10 minutes. We use this pesto for everything. I've mixed it into pastas and put it on chicken. I always have a jar of this in my fridge.

When the butter was chilled, we cut some more bread and sat back down. I have to say the mix between the savory pesto and the sweet preserves was unbelievable! All together it was an awesome snack that's so much better than your average bowl of chips. You could definitely serve these as snacks for guests or as a date night snack for a night in. Either way I love you enough to share this simple snack with you! Enjoy!