Strascinati tricolore with scallops, leeks and tomatoes
Here's a recipe that took longer to write (and maybe to read) than it did to make. For those of you who are experienced cooks, I apologize for the detail. I know you can skip it, though, and I am also writing for people who might not have, say, cleaned a leek before. And it would be very bad if they skipped that part!
A great friend gave me this pasta for Christmas: Strascinati tricolore. It's what you see in the bottom right corner of the picture. I have looked it up, and strascinati seems to mean "stretched pasta." I call it flower-petal pasta, because that is what it looks like to me. It also looks like someone's grandma made a bunch of noodle dough and rolled it out and then stretched pieces of it over her thumb to make these petals of pasta. And although I am sure they now have machines that do that, I'll bet that is how it started.
In addition, it is tricolore -- white, green and orange-red, which is cool because those are the colors of the flag of Italy. Just as if we had red-white-and -blue food, although other than blueberries, most people tend to avoid the blue food, which is just as well.
My friend also suggested that this pasta might be good with scallops. In fact, the very shape of it seemed to say, "I would like to be served with scallops." Round pasta, round protein -- works for me.
So, at the store I bought:
--Scallops
--Leeks (well, you only need one for this)
I had:
--Pasta (and you could use any kind, especially any kind that is in pieces rather than long strands. Lucky me, I had Strascinati)
--Olive oil and/or butter (I made this using only olive oil, as a New Year's resolution. It still tasted great. But as an aside, butter and scallops are really good together.)
--A fourth of a can of diced tomatoes. The "fresh" ones at the store didn't look -- or, more important, smell -- so great, as in not so tomato-y. I will always use canned tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes in lieu of "fresh" tomatoes that taste like -- what is that taste? plastic? packing peanuts?
(An aside about storage: For one or even two servings, I only would use part of a can, and the rest I would be sure to store in a glass container. You could use plastic if you have to, but you know how tomatoes stain some plastic storage containers, and I think they pick up some of the plastic molecules at the same time. I was lucky enough to score some old-fashioned glass "refrigerator" storage containers once at an antique/second-hand store . True, the lids don't seal on, so you can't carry them to work or put them in the freezer, but you CAN see what is in them, which I like. And they don't get stained and they don't let the food inside them absorb plastic. I'm just saying. You could re-use a pickle jar or something.)
--Garlic
--salt, pepper
--Smoked paprika (you don't have to have this, but you should. But it would be good with other herbs or spices, especially, I think, dill. Or basil. It would be a different dish, but it would be good. Scallops are pretty delicate, so I wouldn't use rosemary or something else strong like that But it's your supper, use what you want.)
--White wine. I will always have this on hand. If you don't, or don't want to, I guess you could use chicken broth or even water. It's just to deglaze the pan and make a little sauce. If I were using a non-wine substance, I might add a droplet or two of something acidic, like lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, to counteract the olive oil and/or butter.
--Water. I'm assuming we all have potable water. Wouldn't it be great if everyone did? See http://www.ewb-usa.org to see how you can help. This public service message brought to you by me.
OK, now to cook.
1. Boil water. Put water in a saucepan , add some salt. Trust me, this is the part that takes the longest.
1a. Optional. Open a bottle of white wine if you don't have some leftover.
2. Chop the root and the tough green part off the leek. Wait, don't throw things away yet. Inside the "top," there is still some tender green/white stuff that you can salvage if you strip off the tough leaves. Cut the leek in half lengthwise and wash thoroughly, fanning out the layers inside kind of like pages of a book to make sure you get any mud or sand out. The leeks I am getting now are pretty clean, but you never know. I put the unwanted parts in my compost. I think some people make soup. I tried that once but never ate all the soup, so compost it is. Chop the clean leeks into semi circles that are about 1/4 inch or so wide. Whatever. Don't get out a ruler or anything.
3. Put about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. For this, I use a stainless steel skillet because of what comes later, because I have one, but my well-seasoned cast-iron skillet would also work, because it can take brief periods of wine/acid. Turn heat to medium high.
4. Toss in the leeks.
5. Whenever that water is boiling, which it might be by now, throw in the pasta. I always make too much, but I think about a cup of dried pasta would be plenty for one person, as it swells. I can always think of something to do with leftover pasta.
6. Add some diced tomatoes maybe a quarter or a third of a can's worth, to the leeks. Use some of the tomato liquid, but not too much -- keep it for the next time, in that glass container.
7. Smash and mince a clove of garlic and add to the tomato-leek pan.
8. Check the pasta. No worries. If it is done, strain it and set aside. If not, wait until it is.
9. When the leek-tomato mixture is soft and hot but before it gets even close to crispy, pour it out of the skillet into a bowl. Do not rinse the skillet, but get all the liquid out that will actually pour out. Don't worry about a few droplets.
10. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil (or if you are being really decadent, butter) to the skillet. Yes, there are still remnants of leek and tomato and even a few droplets of juice in there. We want that.
11. Making sure the pan and the oil are nice and hot, put the scallops in. Put salt, pepper and paprika (or whatever herb/spice you are using) on the top. Let them sear on one side. (The remnant sugars from the leeks and tomatoes will actually help brown them. Some people actually put in table sugar to get the brown color. But it is easier, and healthier, to just let the natural sugars do the work.) If the scallops are little, searing might be a minute or even less. If they are really big, maybe three or four. You just have to look at them. Turn them and season the other side. When they are seared on both sides, take them out. Scallops don't need much cooking, and too much cooking makes them rubbery, so err on the side of undercooking. The "carryover" heat may finish what you started. That's one of the reasons to have the white wine, or whatever, ready before you start. Even the time it takes to open a bottle of wine may be just a little too long for the scallops.
12. Pour some white wine or whatever liquid you are using into the hot pan to deglaze. About a quarter to a half a cup. Let it reduce . Yes, you have just made a wine reduction.
13. Put the pasta into the skillet with the wine reduction. Toss it for 30 seconds or so.
14. Plate. Pasta, scallops, tomato/leek/garlic mixture. You can stir them together, or make a do-it-yourself plate, which is what I did for the picture.
If I didn't have luscious sea scallops, I think this would work with many other fish, keeping in mind that I would cook the fish according to its needs, separately from the pasta, and combine them really at the moment of eating or maybe just before.
You may have noticed that, oddly enough for me, I did not even sprinkle this with parmesan or any cheese. You could, but it doesn't need it. Tossing the pasta briefly in the pan with sauce made from the wine and what the French call "fond," which is all those bits left in the bottom of the pan from the leeks, tomatoes, garlic and scallops, was really enough even for me. And I know that some French cooks would have poured in some cream to make a really rich (and delicious, no doubt) sauce. I just didn't feel the need, nor do I keep cream on hand, maybe for that reason!
Here's a recipe that took longer to write (and maybe to read) than it did to make. For those of you who are experienced cooks, I apologize for the detail. I know you can skip it, though, and I am also writing for people who might not have, say, cleaned a leek before. And it would be very bad if they skipped that part!
A great friend gave me this pasta for Christmas: Strascinati tricolore. It's what you see in the bottom right corner of the picture. I have looked it up, and strascinati seems to mean "stretched pasta." I call it flower-petal pasta, because that is what it looks like to me. It also looks like someone's grandma made a bunch of noodle dough and rolled it out and then stretched pieces of it over her thumb to make these petals of pasta. And although I am sure they now have machines that do that, I'll bet that is how it started.
In addition, it is tricolore -- white, green and orange-red, which is cool because those are the colors of the flag of Italy. Just as if we had red-white-and -blue food, although other than blueberries, most people tend to avoid the blue food, which is just as well.
My friend also suggested that this pasta might be good with scallops. In fact, the very shape of it seemed to say, "I would like to be served with scallops." Round pasta, round protein -- works for me.
So, at the store I bought:
--Scallops
--Leeks (well, you only need one for this)
I had:
--Pasta (and you could use any kind, especially any kind that is in pieces rather than long strands. Lucky me, I had Strascinati)
--Olive oil and/or butter (I made this using only olive oil, as a New Year's resolution. It still tasted great. But as an aside, butter and scallops are really good together.)
--A fourth of a can of diced tomatoes. The "fresh" ones at the store didn't look -- or, more important, smell -- so great, as in not so tomato-y. I will always use canned tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes in lieu of "fresh" tomatoes that taste like -- what is that taste? plastic? packing peanuts?
(An aside about storage: For one or even two servings, I only would use part of a can, and the rest I would be sure to store in a glass container. You could use plastic if you have to, but you know how tomatoes stain some plastic storage containers, and I think they pick up some of the plastic molecules at the same time. I was lucky enough to score some old-fashioned glass "refrigerator" storage containers once at an antique/second-hand store . True, the lids don't seal on, so you can't carry them to work or put them in the freezer, but you CAN see what is in them, which I like. And they don't get stained and they don't let the food inside them absorb plastic. I'm just saying. You could re-use a pickle jar or something.)
--Garlic
--salt, pepper
--Smoked paprika (you don't have to have this, but you should. But it would be good with other herbs or spices, especially, I think, dill. Or basil. It would be a different dish, but it would be good. Scallops are pretty delicate, so I wouldn't use rosemary or something else strong like that But it's your supper, use what you want.)
--White wine. I will always have this on hand. If you don't, or don't want to, I guess you could use chicken broth or even water. It's just to deglaze the pan and make a little sauce. If I were using a non-wine substance, I might add a droplet or two of something acidic, like lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, to counteract the olive oil and/or butter.
--Water. I'm assuming we all have potable water. Wouldn't it be great if everyone did? See http://www.ewb-usa.org to see how you can help. This public service message brought to you by me.
OK, now to cook.
1. Boil water. Put water in a saucepan , add some salt. Trust me, this is the part that takes the longest.
1a. Optional. Open a bottle of white wine if you don't have some leftover.
2. Chop the root and the tough green part off the leek. Wait, don't throw things away yet. Inside the "top," there is still some tender green/white stuff that you can salvage if you strip off the tough leaves. Cut the leek in half lengthwise and wash thoroughly, fanning out the layers inside kind of like pages of a book to make sure you get any mud or sand out. The leeks I am getting now are pretty clean, but you never know. I put the unwanted parts in my compost. I think some people make soup. I tried that once but never ate all the soup, so compost it is. Chop the clean leeks into semi circles that are about 1/4 inch or so wide. Whatever. Don't get out a ruler or anything.
3. Put about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. For this, I use a stainless steel skillet because of what comes later, because I have one, but my well-seasoned cast-iron skillet would also work, because it can take brief periods of wine/acid. Turn heat to medium high.
4. Toss in the leeks.
5. Whenever that water is boiling, which it might be by now, throw in the pasta. I always make too much, but I think about a cup of dried pasta would be plenty for one person, as it swells. I can always think of something to do with leftover pasta.
6. Add some diced tomatoes maybe a quarter or a third of a can's worth, to the leeks. Use some of the tomato liquid, but not too much -- keep it for the next time, in that glass container.
7. Smash and mince a clove of garlic and add to the tomato-leek pan.
8. Check the pasta. No worries. If it is done, strain it and set aside. If not, wait until it is.
9. When the leek-tomato mixture is soft and hot but before it gets even close to crispy, pour it out of the skillet into a bowl. Do not rinse the skillet, but get all the liquid out that will actually pour out. Don't worry about a few droplets.
10. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil (or if you are being really decadent, butter) to the skillet. Yes, there are still remnants of leek and tomato and even a few droplets of juice in there. We want that.
11. Making sure the pan and the oil are nice and hot, put the scallops in. Put salt, pepper and paprika (or whatever herb/spice you are using) on the top. Let them sear on one side. (The remnant sugars from the leeks and tomatoes will actually help brown them. Some people actually put in table sugar to get the brown color. But it is easier, and healthier, to just let the natural sugars do the work.) If the scallops are little, searing might be a minute or even less. If they are really big, maybe three or four. You just have to look at them. Turn them and season the other side. When they are seared on both sides, take them out. Scallops don't need much cooking, and too much cooking makes them rubbery, so err on the side of undercooking. The "carryover" heat may finish what you started. That's one of the reasons to have the white wine, or whatever, ready before you start. Even the time it takes to open a bottle of wine may be just a little too long for the scallops.
12. Pour some white wine or whatever liquid you are using into the hot pan to deglaze. About a quarter to a half a cup. Let it reduce . Yes, you have just made a wine reduction.
13. Put the pasta into the skillet with the wine reduction. Toss it for 30 seconds or so.
14. Plate. Pasta, scallops, tomato/leek/garlic mixture. You can stir them together, or make a do-it-yourself plate, which is what I did for the picture.
If I didn't have luscious sea scallops, I think this would work with many other fish, keeping in mind that I would cook the fish according to its needs, separately from the pasta, and combine them really at the moment of eating or maybe just before.
You may have noticed that, oddly enough for me, I did not even sprinkle this with parmesan or any cheese. You could, but it doesn't need it. Tossing the pasta briefly in the pan with sauce made from the wine and what the French call "fond," which is all those bits left in the bottom of the pan from the leeks, tomatoes, garlic and scallops, was really enough even for me. And I know that some French cooks would have poured in some cream to make a really rich (and delicious, no doubt) sauce. I just didn't feel the need, nor do I keep cream on hand, maybe for that reason!
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