Cooking Tips: Kyle’s Seafood Pasta

I was lucky enough to get to shop in Chinatown on a recent trip to NYC.  It was awesome to be able to go get fresh seafood from a vendor and then make it up for dinner.

Below is the recipe that I put together for a delicious pasta dish that will feed 4-5 people.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-8 oz. fresh scallops (any size will do, I used small ones for this recipe to keep with the same size consistency, just cook accordingly)

-8 oz. fresh tiger shrimp. (Same rules apply to the scallops)

-1 packet of dry pesto mix. (Fresh would be amazing but this way also tasted very good)

-1 can diced tomatoes

-1/2 lb. three cheese tortellini

-1 tablespoon fresh garlic minced/finely chopped (this is equal to 2 medium cloves of garlic)

-2 pats of non-salted butter (for browning seafood)

-1/2 cup water

-1 lemon

Follow the guidelines for whatever type of tortellini you are cooking.  Boil the pasta just before it is al dente, it will finish cooking in the skillet once all the ingredients are assembled.  (Click here to learn how to cook pasta al dente.)  You want to time this right and add the hot pasta into the same pan that you are sautéing the seafood in.

Turn your skillet on medium-high heat, when properly hot, add the butter.  Once the butter is almost melted, add the seafood and start to brown, adding the garlic when you have a couple of minutes left.  To help facilitate the browning process, make sure the seafood has no water on its surface.  The scallops should have a light brown color and the shrimp just start to turn pink, about 3-4 minutes for small scallops and medium tiger shrimp.  (Don’t put the garlic in at the start or it will burn, you just want to cook it a little to release the flavor.)

Dissolve the dry pesto packet in a 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water, then add it and the can of diced tomatoes to the skillet.  Spoon  in the tortellini, stir together and let the whole dish simmer for 5 minutes on the stove.   Add the juice of one fresh lemon, plate the food, grate fresh parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Small scallops, medium tiger shrimp

 

Seafood Pasta

 

Fresh parmesan cheese, the finishing touch.