Monday, April 7, 2014

Recipe: Scallops in Parmesan and White Wine Sauce with Wild Mushroom Couscous

I LOVE seafood!  Unfortunately no one else in my household will even go near it, so I don't cook it often. Recently I've been craving scallops, but I wanted to try something a bit different than my standard pan seared go-to. My original vision for this recipe was a robust homemade wild mushroom couscous, but hey folks I'm busy, so I cheated. I am going to give you my recipe for couscous, but I'm also going to tell you that Near East sells a version in a box that is just delicious! 

Wild Mushroom Couscous

Ingredients 
1 cup couscous 
1 palmful dried diced porcini mushrooms 
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
Pinch of salt 
1 clove garlic

Directions
Boil two cups of water with dried porcinis, salt, and 1 teaspoon olive oil or butter. Remove from heat and pour over couscous in a medium mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; after five minutes, remove wrap, fluff with a fork, and set aside. 


Scallops in Parmesan & White Sauce

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 pound bay scallops


Directions
1) Heat butter and olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir white wine, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and parsley into hot oil and butter. Cook and stir until parsley is tender and wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

2) Increase heat to medium-high and add scallops to sauce; cook until scallops just become opaque, 3 to 4 minutes.

3) Divide couscous onto serving plates and top each serving with scallops in sauce. Sprinkle each portion with 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese and a pinch of fresh parsley.


ENJOY!!