Asparagus Season, Garnished with Scallops

SAM_1233

There is probably nothing in the absolute major treat category that my companion Toby loves more than scallops. Add to that the now-abundant asparagus harvest in the garden and what to make to celebrate his birthday this week was a no-brainer. I did have to ask what kind of cake. (Coconut!)

I thought probably the nicest way to present the scallops and asparagus would be with fettuccini, and to let them outnumber the pasta, with the lightest of seasonings so we could really taste the vegetables and seafood. It is a little early for me to find dill, which goes well with both asparagus and scallops, in the garden, so I used some home-dried. I’ve grown dill for so many years now, and always let some go to seed (for pickling), that the dill plants itself year after year. Once it gets going, I always have more than enough. The parsley plants are still very young, but I took one leaf from each of six plants and added lots of chives. Those herbs, butter, the merest dribble of cream, and a little lemon zest made the sauce.

SAM_1231

If there is a secret to this dish, it is not to overcook the asparagus or the scallops. I cut the asparagus in about two inch lengths and cooked them until they were bright green and barely tender. I used sea scallops and quartered them, and cooked them only until they were opaque. They really tasted wonderful to us, possibly because we have them only seldom. The asparagus is in perfection right now, fresh out of the ground, and since I refuse to buy asparagus at any other time of year, it, too, tastes extra specially terrific.

We left room for cake and ice cream, of course.

P.S. Many thanks to all who have sent Nissua bread recipes! It is a holiday bread, and I will try it out and let you know the results.

Asparagus, Scallops, and Fettuccini
Serves: 2-3
 
Ingredients
  • Fettuccini
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound asparagus, cut into two inch lengths
  • ½ pound scallops, halved
  • Dill, minced
  • Parsley, minced
  • Chives, minced
  • Zest of half a lemon
  • All-purpose cream
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Cook the fettuccini according to the directions on the package and when you drain it, reserve a half cup of cooking water.
  2. Melt half the butter in a sauté pan with the olive oil.
  3. Add the asparagus and cook it over a medium high heat until it is bright green and barely tender, about four to five minutes, then remove to a bowl.
  4. Add the rest of the butter and add the scallops and cook for three to four minutes until they are just opaque.
  5. Take the pan with the scallops off the heat, add the asparagus, minced herbs, and lemon zest, tossing them all together.
  6. Return the mixture to the stove at a medium-low heat, spoon in a little of reserved pasta cooking water and a dribble of cream, just enough to make a little sauce, and reheat until the sauce bubbles softly.
  7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Serve over the fettuccini with or without parmesan as desired.

 

Sandy Oliver

About Sandy Oliver

Sandy Oliver Sandy is a freelance food writer with the column Taste Buds appearing weekly since 2006 in the Bangor Daily News, and regular columns in Maine Boats, Homes, and Harbors magazine and The Working Waterfront. Besides freelance food writing, she is a pioneering food historian beginning her work in 1971 at Mystic Seaport Museum, where she developed a fireplace cooking program in an 1830s house. After moving to Maine in 1988, Sandy wrote, Saltwater Foodways: New Englanders and Their Foods at Sea and Ashore in the 19th Century published in 1995. She is the author of The Food of Colonial and Federal America published in fall of 2005, and Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving History and Recipes from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie which she co-authored with Kathleen Curtin. She often speaks to historical organizations and food professional groups around the country, organizes historical dinners, and conducts classes and workshops in food history and in sustainable gardening and cooking. Sandy lives on Islesboro, an island in Penobscot where she gardens, preserves, cooks and teaches sustainable lifeways.