Pasta
(2 ways) in cream sauce with garlic scapes, prawns and clams and/or scallops
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| Pasta with white wine creeam sauce, Prawns and Clams, tomato and asparagus and garnished with chive and fresh chive flowers |
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| Pasta with white wine cream sauce, Prawns and Scallops, tomato and asaragus garnished with fresh Parsley |
Pasta in a rich cream sauce with fish or seafood is
one of my favourite go-to comfort foods. This particular dish (done two ways!)
was inspired yet again by my garden and the delicious garlic scapes that I just
cut. If you are not familiar with this curly que early harvest bounty you MUST try
them. If growing your own garlic, cutting these sweet, delicious, long curly
pre-flower stems is key to getting your garlic to focus its energy on the
garlic bulb instead of the emerging flower. The scape will emerge usually about
one month before harvesting your garlic and should be cut when measuring approx.
12” from the plant to the base of the emerging flower bulb. Garlic scapes are
also becoming widely available in most grocery stores and they are a staple at
this time of year at local markets – you’ve likely seen them but maybe did not
know what they were or how to use them. You can use garlic scapes in the same
way that you would use regular garlic but these delicate stems are only available
for a short time so don’t miss taking advantage of them when available! Their
taste is more delicate and slightly sweeter than the garlic cloves that we use
regularly and for that reason they make a PERFECT pairing with delicate seafood
and fish.
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| Garlic Scapes |
Ingredients:
½ - ¾ package of 454gr dried
Linguine or Fettucine
A large pot of boiling salted
water
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup of white wine (optional)
8-10 raw scallops (if using)
1 bag (approx. 1lb) of fresh
uncooked manilla clams still in shells (if using)
12 raw prawns, peeled and deveined/cleaned
2 garlic scapes – cut into 1/8”
slices (use only the stem leading up to the emerging flower bulb – discard the
rest)
10 Asparagus stalks – base trimmed
and cut into 1” pieces
10-12 cherry tomatoes -sliced
in half
250ml of 35% cream
3 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese – grated.
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley and/or Chives
for garnish
Method:
Fill a large pot (approx. 6-8qrts)
with water and place on high heat (with lid) to bring to a boil. Once boiling,
add a generous dash of salt and let dissolve. Turn heat down to low and cover
until ready to cook pasta.
Place a separate large 12” straight
sided fry pan on med-high heat and add olive oil. (if you don’t have the pan
mentioned you can use a 4-6qrt soup pot instead).
Once oil is hot, add garlic scapes
and lightly saute until starting to warm.
If using scallops – gently
place flat side down in the pan and DO NOT TOUCH THEM for approx. 4min.
After 4min, turn scallops gently
with a set of tongs or a spatula and continue to cook on the other side for 3min.
The scallops should have a nice gentle brown crust on each side.
Remove from pan and set aside on
a plate or bowl.
In the same pan, add the raw
prawns and cook for 4-5min. Remove and place in the same bowl as the scallops
or a separate bowl if desired and set aside.
If using clams – add to remaining
hot oil and garlic scapes. Shake pan vigorously to coat clams for approx. 30sec.
Reduce heat to medium.
Add white wine and cover pan
with lid.
Keeping lid on – occasionally shake
the pan now and again and watch for clams starting to open. This can take
anywhere from 5-7min depending on your pan as well as your stove.
Once clams are all open, use a
spider or slotted spoon to remove and set aside in a separate bowl (covered)
until needed. Discard any clams that do not open.
Add sliced cherry tomatoes to
pan and let simmer for 2min
Add 35% cream and bring to a
gentle boil on med-low and let reduce by 1/3.
**Turn up the heat to high on the
pot of boiling water for pasta. Once at a full boil again add pasta and stir occasionally
to prevent the pasta sticking together.
Watch the pan with
cream/tomatoes/garlic scapes to ensure sauce is not getting too thick. If so,
add a small amount of water and turn heat down to low.
When pasta is ½ cooked, add
asparagus to cream/tomato/garlic scape pan.
If using clams - While waiting
for pasta to finish cooking and waiting for asparagus to cook within the sauce –
remove approx. ¾ of cooked reserved clams from their shells keeping the best ¼ for
placement presentation. Add shelled clams to cream sauce.
Once pasta is cooked (approx. 8-10min
depending pasta type chosen) use a pair of tongs or a pasta fork and spoon the
pasta DIRECTLY INTO THE CREAM SAUCE. Stir
to incorporate.
Add Parmesan Cheese and
continue to stir gently so as not to break or tear the pasta. Turn heat off.
Plate creamed pasta on a
serving platter or individual plates and gently place cooked prawns, clams that
you have reserved in their shells and/or scallops evenly throughout so well
distributed.
Garnish with fresh Parsley or
Chives
Serves 4
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