Seared Scallops on Angel Hair Pasta Nests in Vodka Cream Sauce – Recipe
If there is one thing I love for dinner it’s pasta. Sometimes as you well know I make my own using my pasta roller set for my KitchenAid such as when I made fettuccine recently. But sometimes I just like the ease of opening a package and dropping dried pasta into a pot of boiling water. Add some seared scallops and vodka cream sauce and you have a meal. Since the recipe calls for vodka you must be 21 to follow it as posted.
In that case I do make sure that I have a good quality dried pasta on hand because you don’t want a tasteless blob ruining your meal. There are many good ones out there and tastes vary so just try a few until you find one you like. And that way you get to eat a lot of pasta. There is nothing wrong with that – right?
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Seared Scallops on Angel Hair Pasta Nests in Vodka Cream Sauce
Serves 2
6 Angel Hair Pasta nests or half a package angel hair pasta
8 scallops, thawed if frozen and dried
4 – 6 tomatoes
11/2 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream
fresh ground pepper
1 TBS fresh herbs plus some for sprinkling – I used oregano, thyme and marjoram
salt and pepper
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- Cut the cores out of the tomatoes and cut them into chunks. If you can, use more than one kind of tomato.
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed stock pot. Add the garlic and swirl until its scent is released.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and let the tomatoes cook until they are quite soft.
- Use an immersion blender to make a smooth sauce. If you don’t have an immersion blender carefully transfer the tomatoes to a regular blender and puree then return to the pot.
- Add salt and pepper but be light handed as the sauce is going to reduce. You will adjust the seasoning at the end.
- Add the vodka and let boil for at least a minute. Stir in the herbs, reserving some to sprinkle over the finished dish.
- Pour in the heavy cream. Let the sauce simmer while you prepare the rest of the meal.
- Set a large pot of salted water on to boil.
- Sear the Scallops: Make sure the scallops are dry. Season them on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat a non stick frying pan over med-high heat until hot. Sear the scallops until they get a nice brown color and cook for 2 minutes.
- Turn them over and cook for two minutes on the other side. You can see the nice color I got on the scallops with my new non stick pan. I used no oil in the pan at all! Set aside and keep warm.
- Cook the Pasta/Pasta Nests: follow the directions on your package – the ones I had indicated to bring a large pot of water to a boil then turn the heat off and let the nests sit in the water for 3 minutes, then drain.
- Put it all together: The vodka cream sauce will have reduced and thickened by a fair bit while you were preparing the scallops and pasta. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add a healthy amount of fresh ground pepper to taste.
- Put some sauce in the bottom of a bowl, add three pasta nests or a cup of pasta and top with four scallops. Drizzle with more of the vodka cream sauce. Sprinkle with the fresh herbs that had been set aside.
How Were the Seared Scallops with Vodka Cream Sauce?
Seriously good. I might have licked my bowl but since there is no photographic evidence no one will ever know for sure. The husband really enjoyed this meal as well. The vodka cream sauce was delicious. It would work well with so many different pastas and proteins – the combinations are endless, and tasty.
This meal took some time to come together but it wasn’t a difficult meal to make. The bulk of the effort was in chopping tomatoes and the time spent was in having the sauce cook down which is not a lot of work for a cook – just checking now and then to make sure it’s not reducing too quickly so as to burn.
This vodka cream sauce recipe is easy to make yet fancy enough for a special dinner.
