Pan-Seared Scallops on Linguine with Tomato-Cream Sauce

Updated

Lately it seems I don’t eat as healthy as I should, but I still love this recipe from the January 2003 issue of Cooking Light. It seems so indulgent with the cream and butter, but so little is used that you don’t have to feel guilty about it. I haven’t made it in a while, so I thought it would be a nice change from all those heavy holiday meals and leftovers I’ve been eating lately. I used a whole wheat pasta this time to make myself feel even better about it. It was perfect! Aside from the darker color, you almost wouldn’t know the difference.

The recipe is very flexible. If you don’t want to open a bottle of good white wine, cooking sherry works very well. Onions or leeks can be used in place of shallots, although the onions will be a bit stronger. You can find jars of grated ginger in the produce aisle if you don’t want to grate it yourself. Finally, any tomato can be used in place of the plum tomatoes, just as long as you remove the seeds.

The nutritional information below is from the original recipe served with regular pasta.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger

2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup chopped seeded plum tomato
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups hot cooked linguine

Cooking spray
3/4 pound large sea scallops
1/8 teaspoon salt
Chopped cilantro

Directions:
Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium skillet; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes). Drain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, reserving liquid; discard solids. Return wine mixture to skillet. Add cream; cook over medium heat 1 minute. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Stir in tomato, 2 tablespoons cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Add linguine; toss well. Cover and keep warm.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sprinkle scallops with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Arrange scallops in pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Add scallops to pasta mixture; toss gently to combine. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutritional Information: 426 Calories (29% from fat); 13.5g Fat (7.3g sat, 3.5g mono, 1.2g poly); 34.8g Protein; 92mg Cholesterol; 75mg Calcium; 794mg Sodium; 2.6g Fiber; 2.8mg Iron; 40.6g Carbohydrate

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