Michele's Pasta and Scallops
From: Chris Shenton plagiarized from Ruth Reichel's Comfort Me With Apples
Date: 2003-04-10

This is an easy but satisfyingly rich and flavorful preparation. The
concept is simple: reduce stock to intensify, add cream and reduce to
intensify again, combine with quickly cooked fish -- it should be
adaptable to a number of styles.

The only drawback is that the colors are all similar: cream, pasta,
scallops; even the texture of the scallops is close to that of the
pasta. A home-made spinach fettucini proved a great color combination
-- pale green against slightly pinkish scallops.

We make fish stock and usually it's quite flavorful. On on occassion,
it didn't have as much intensity as usual and this caused the pasta
sauce to be rather disappointing -- it didn't have the punch that it
should, that makes the dish so good. Make sure you have a rich stock.

1 	cup 	Fish Stock
1 	cup 	Heavy Cream
1/2 	pound 	Sea Scallops
		Sea Salt, Black Pepper
1/2 	pound 	Linguini (I use home made Fettucini)
1 	Tbs 	Lemon Juice, fresh

Get pasta water boiling. Do the rest while it's heating.

Reduce Stock to 1/4 cup, 4 minutes depending on your cooktop. I found
a 1/4 cup ladle to be helpful in measuring this reduction and the
next.

Add cream, simmer to reduce mixture to 1/2 cup, about 6 minutes. It
didn't seem to be a problem for the cream to bubble a bit.

Cook the pasta. If you use dried pasta you might want to start this
step earlier; if using fresh, maybe a little later so it doesn't get
ready before the scallops. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain.

Dry scallops. I cut the largest in half. Sprinkle generously with
course Salt, and freshly ground Pepper (the black pepper flecks look
good against the cooked scallops when served).

Heat a heavy metal (dude) skillet; I use a non-stick. Film with
oil. Grill scallops until just barely cooked, about 1-2 minutes per
side. Transfer to plate, cover to keep warm.

Return pasta to pot. Combine with a splash of the pasta water, cream
sauce, lemon juice, and any juice from the reposing scallops. Salt and
pepper, taste.

Serve with pasta, top with scallops. Garnish with parsley for color
and toasted breadcrumbs for texture if desired.