One pot creations

Sort of. If you've been following this blog, you may have noted that, while it's certainly on a fancier schmanzier level, my cooking is, essentially, the traditional "protein/starch/veg" plate. I fess up to it, not gonna run from it. I like it. It works for me. Unless I'm making a traditional type of Italian meal, where we put the starch out first and then serve protein and veggies afterward, that's how we eat. It's comfortable.

Sometimes, though, it just happens that things work out a little differently. We try to eat a vegetarian meal every once in a while, for example, not necessarily because it's healthy (mac and cheese, is NOT healthy). I'll make risotto with vegetables, or with fish, but more often, when we step away from the usual way we eat, it's for a one pot pasta kind of "thing." Lasagna may come to mind right away, and it's a good one. What I'm presenting today, however, is another one, and it's an example of how I would like you to think when you go into the kitchen.

At the fisherman's on Saturday, he had his usual supply of winter fish. Nothing wrong with any of that, it's just that , well, none of it was moving me. We had eaten pollack the week before, and it was really good, but I wasn't ready for it a second time. The week before that, my cod was a disaster (have no idea why). The rest of the selection was grey sole, flounder, monkfish.. nothing floating my boats. He had clams, which Guy doesn't care for, so they were out, and mussels, which are also not up there in Guy's pantheon of seafood. But there were scallops. Big, beautiful dry scallops. A pound please.

When I got home, I began to think about how to make them. We love scallops done classically: a hot pan, some oil and butter, a good sear, maybe a splash of white wine, and we're done. Some veggies, some starch, and the meal is complete. But that was boring me as I thought about it. I'm tired of making it.

That's when a one disher came to mind. A classic one. There are peas in the freezer from the summer (I should explain: we freeze peas, corn, fava beans, and shell beans . That's it on veggies. We freeze blue berries, sour cherries, and apricot pits. I'll explain the apricot pits sometime soon). You will read that the frozen peas you can buy are as good as what you can buy fresh.

Well, yes and no. They ARE just about as good, if you leave the peas in your fridge and don't get to them immediately. They lose their sugar, as it turns to starch, and you'll wonder what the point of all the work shucking them was. It's a fair thought. There's a solution: use them right away. Or, do as I do, and freeze them. And then they're better than the frozen ones you can buy. I even freeze them during the summer: if I buy peas on Saturday, and I know I'm not going to use them until Tuesday, into the freezer they go . They cook so fast, even when frozen, that it's a no lose situation.

So we have some peas in the freezer, we have pasta, (DUH), and we have scallops. We also have heavy cream, and here comes the dish, which is sort of a classic: pasta with scallops and peas in cream sauce.

Now that sounds like a chore, huh? By now, you should know, I'm not gonna hit you with that. this is actually very easy, and you can make it easier than I do, by leaving out a step.

When I think of scallops, I like them several ways. I love them raw, or in a ceviche. I also love them seared, like I told you about. The only way I don't love them is overcooked, when they turn into big pencil erasers. So, using raw scallops in the pasta is an option. So is using the seared ones. So this time, I'm using them both ways. I will sear half of the scallops, and use the others in raw form, cut small. When you do that, the heat of the pasta and the cream will cook them enough. For the other half, again, very easy: melt a few tablespoons of butter and oil together. Pat your scallops dry, salt them, and cook them in hot fat on one side, until you get a sear, and then on the other side for a couple more minutes. Put them aside.

You can leave that step out completely. Cut up the other scallops into quarters if they're large, and halves if they're not, and put them at the side as well.

Get a big pot of water hot and when it boils, add a tablespoon of salt, and add maybe half a pound of pasta with a shape to it. Rigatoni, fusilli, strozzapretti, whatever you like. When the pasta is about half done (taste it), add about a half pound of peas, right to the pasta. Cook this for about four or five minutes, and taste the pasta again. If it's close to being one, you're ready. Drain the whole thing into a colander, but save about a quarter cup of your water . Add the water, and the pasta and peas, back to your pot. Stir in about a quarter cup of heavy cream, and let this sit until the cream bubbles. Now toss in the raw scallops, and stir everything together, once or twice. If you still have the remaining fat from the scallops, you can toss that in, too.

You're done. All you have to do is plate up the pasta, and put the big, seared ones, if you did that, on top. You have protein, starch, and veg, in one convenient bowl. Mix up a green salad, and you're done. If you feel like going all the way, have some sorbet at the end of the meal.

Note that I did NOT use cheese in this. It's one of my fundamental rules. Like a good EYETALIAN boy, I never mix fish and cheese. EVER. That's why I didn't use tortellini in this dish, because there's cheese filling in them.

If you like scallops, you will love this dish. And, if by some chance, you have a child who likes scallops, you'll get vegetables by them with this. I promise.