When I went to The Frog & Peach for a New Brunswick Patch review, I ordered their seared scallops, and fell in love with them. When I was a toddler, I used to eat scallops all the time, when I would eat anything and everything. A few years later, I went through a super picky phase, and stayed away from scallops far after that phase had ended.

I assumed preparing scallops was difficult, but after checking out a few different recipes online, I realized they only took a few minutes in some butter and oil over a medium-high heat. Unfortunately the only scallops that Wegmans had were gigantic, so instead of having a few little scallops, we had three huge scallops each. That’s right, we got about 6 huge scallops when we ordered a pound.

Deciding what to pair the scallops with was a no brainer – pasta. What exactly to put with the pasta, however, was a little more difficult. Eventually I decided on some garlic, shallots, and a soon-to-go-bad zucchini in a white wine butter sauce. The kick came from red pepper flakes, of course. I would definitely make this again, but maybe next time with smaller scallops.

Scallops and Spicy Pasta
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
1 lb. sea scallops
5 oz. spaghetti
1 zucchini, diced
2 shallots, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil + 4 Tbsp
2 Tbsp butter
4 oz. white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter in a medium skillet. Season the scallops on either side with a pinch of salt and pepper. Once butter is melted, add scallops and sear on either side 2-3 minutes, making sure they don’t touch. 
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a separate skillet, and sauté zucchini, shallots, and garlic for 5 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and white wine, and allow to simmer for an additional 3-5 minutes.
4. Combine the pasta and sautéed vegetables with an additional Tbsp of butter. Serve with the scallops atop the pasta.