Pasta with Scallops, Shrimp, Basil and a White Wine Sauce

This pasta is one of those dishes, I had the ingredients; I wanted something to eat… we made this.

Y’all know that I always have at least 3 boxes of Barilla Pasta Plus in the pantry; if you aren’t eating it yet…. You have no idea what you’re missing out on. There’s always parmesan cheese, bacon and garlic in my house and this week, I happened to buy fresh scallops, shrimp, white wine and basil.  I’m not sure what I had in mind but, I knew I wanted something and those flavors were calling to me.  So, this pasta was born.

I chopped some bacon and got it sizzling in a pan, then I added 1 clove of chopped garlic and cooked them for 3 or 4 minutes; stirring occassionally.

While this was cooking, I chopped the basil.  Easiest way to do this: roll the basil leaves up into a ‘tube’ and chop

At this point; the garlic and bacon are sizzling and the aroma is such that you want to grab a wooden spoon, scoop it onto a piece of toast and devour.  Hold off, it gets better.

Grab a bottle of white wine, make sure it’s something you’d drink; it doesn’t have to be expensive.. the rule with alcohol and cooking is if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it. (if you don’t drink.. you could use a veggie or chicken broth)

Add about two cups of white wine, 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp (y’all know I love my spice) of crushed red pepper to the bacon garlic mix and set to simmer.

Start your pasta water boiling and then cook your pasta.

When your pasta has about 6 minutes left, add the scallops and shrimp to your sauce pan and cook, stirring frequently until shrimp is pink.

Now for the fun part, toss the pasta and sauce/scallops/shrimp mixture together.. add in basil leaves and divide into bowls.  This made 4 servings for us.

Grate fresh parmesan, top with fresh ground pepper and serve.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 box Barilla pasta plus rotini
  • 1 lb shrimp
  • 1/2 lb scallops
  • 3 slices bacon, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • dash to 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 C white wine or broth (i would use less broth as it tends to be overpowering)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • grated parmesan (I just grate until it’s covered and then toss to make it all melty ooey gooey nom nom nom)
  • 8 fresh basil leaves ‘ish’
  1. chop bacon, sautee until sizzling.. add garlic and simmer about 3 to 4 minutes
  2. Chop basil
  3. Add wine to bacon garlic mixture, add in some red pepper and set to simmer
  4. Cook pasta, while pasta is cooking.. rinse shrimp and scallops
  5. When the pasta has 6 minutes left; add shrimp and scallops to wine mixture and cook until the shrimp are pink
  6. Remove pasta and drain; toss with shrimp and scallop mixture; put into bowls, toss with basil and top with fresh grated parmesan and fresh ground pepper to taste.
  7. Serve with white wine and fresh garlic bread….. play with these ingredients, add tomatoes or sliced red peppers;  enjoy your food.

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Mashed Potatoes with Fresh Basil, Blue Cheese and Greek Yogurt

Know what those are?

Those are the Mashed Potatoes that won the Tastemaker 2K10 Cook off Challenge at Blissdom.

and they’re mine. :-)

I can’t even begin to put into words how much fun the Tastemaker Challenge was.  Crazy, loud, exhilarating, insane, silly, fun, tasty…

They did such a good job driving us crazy keeping the details secret!  They had great shirts made for us that said “Team (tastemaker’s name)

There might have been a bit of competition between the Tastemaker fans, as you can see with Tanis and Casey

However, no potatoes were harmed during this picture but MANY were consumed by the hungry crowd in the form of the Mashed Potato Bar and the signature Potato Vodka cocktails.

We were given 20 minutes, a secret ingredient, a ‘style’ mashed, baked etc… and a table full of possibilities to use as well as already cooked potatoes.

My secret ingredient was fresh basil!  My first thought.. SCORE!  Y’all know that I love me some Basil!!!

I grabbed some of my favorite ingredients:

  • potatoes
  • greek yogurt (NOM)
  • blue cheese crumbles
  • tabasco
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • fresh basil
  • a lemon
  • butter

And I got to workin’ it

My fellow tastemakers were AWESOME and the competition was fierce!!!   I had more fun with this Tastemaker Challenge Process and the live cook off was like the loaded toppings on a hot perfectly cooked baked potato.

Enough chatter.. y’all want the recipe, right? RIGHT!

K.. tiny side note.. this was a challenge, I was time crunched.. the exact portions are a bit ‘iff-ish’

  • 4 medium potatoes (110 calories each) (HOLLA to my Team Rachel girl SARAH who knew that when asked!)
  • greek yogurt ( 1/2 C-ish)
  • butter ( 2 Tbsp)
  • salt and pepper
  • fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 C blue cheese crumbles (this may have ended up being a cup……)
  • 1 lemon’
  • tabasco (y’all know it’s up to you.. I added 6 drops)
  • chicken broth to moisten (milk works, too but we didn’t have any)
  1. Your potatoes should be cooked (keep in mind that in the pics and for the challenge, I served my mashed potatoes in the skins of more potatoes for aesthetics.. if you want to do this, you’ll need more than 4 potatoes)
  2. Finely chop 5 basil leaves (I roll them together and then chop them, much easier) if anyone took a pic of me doing that.. I’d love it!
  3. Put your potatoes (yes, with the skin) in a bowl and mash the livin’ daylights out of them.
  4. Add in greek yogurt, 1/2 C blue cheese crumbles, 2 tsp salt and pepper, add in basil, dashes of tabasco and some chicken broth, veggie broth or milk to moisten and the juice from 1/2 a lemon.
  5. Mash some more and mix some more.. do a little hot potato dance or the mashed potato while you’re at it.

6.  Because this was a cook off challenge and we were being judged on Creativity, Taste, Health, Visual and Crowd Participation (seriously y’all.. the crowd was amazing.  The Blissdom bloggers ROCKED that party).. I purtied mine up by serving them inside the scooped out skin of two more potatoes.

7.  I filled the skins with my mashed potato mixture, topped each with a basil leaf, a bit more blue cheese, some salt and pepper and a teeny squeeze more lemon juice.

They were nommy!!!!!

I have to give a supah star shout-out to my amazing roomie Jo-Lynne because her stupendous videos won her the FAN FAVORITE award at the Tastemaker Challenge!!!

Thank you to EVERYONE who came out to support us, to the AMAZING team at Fleishman-Hillard for putting this ridiculously fun event and project together and to the United States Potato Board, this was one of the highlights of my 2009 and a seriously amazing way to kick off 2010!!!

A special thank you to my fellow tastemakers; Melanie., Jo-Lynne, Jen, Melanie, Jodi, Jim, Amy and Lindsay,  it has been my honor, privilege and joy to work with y’all.

If you’re linkin up to Mouthwatering Mondays, YAY!  Say HI, leave a comment and leave your recipe URL in the MckLinky.. visit other MWM participants and make sure to link back here so that others can share in the love.


super thank you to Casey, Jessi, Heather, Sarah and Lotus for taking pictures and letting me use them! xoxo

Pollo Rosa Maria

rosa-chicken

I teased y’all yesterday with this picture and with the promise of something yummy to come so here it is.

This is the recipe that I made for Nathan’s Birthday dinner and y’all, it is amazing.  The flavor profile is subtle, savory, light and fabulous.   Lemon, White Wine, Garlic, Onions and Fresh Basil. YUM!

This is not one of my own recipes, this is one of Carrabba’s Italian Grill’s recipes and as a treat for all of my Blissfully Delish readers (and y’all too!), Carrabba’s is offering a $50 gift card to enjoy their very special Valentine’s and Pre-Valentine’s Day celebration.  You can go here to learn more and to enter. This contest is over and the winner announced on Blissfully Delish.

Carrabba’s Pollo Rosa Maria

* 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless and butterflied
* 2 slices prosciutto ham
* 2 slices Fontina cheese ( I couldn’t find Fontina so I used Mozzarella)
* 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
* 4 Tbsp. butter, divided
* 6 mushrooms, sliced
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1/2 cup fresh garlic chopped ( i ran out of fresh garlic and used minced in a jar, thus the chunky sauce)
* 1/2 cup white wine (remember, don’t use wine you wouldn’t drink)
* 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
* White pepper to taste
* Kosher salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Cover one-half of each breast section with one slice of prosciutto ham, one slice of Fontina cheese. Fold chicken breast half flap over the dressed chicken breast half; season with grill seasoning.Grill and baste until cooked.
2. In a sauté pan place 1 Tbsp. butter, sauté mushrooms and onions and garlic until softened. Add white wine and lemon juice; simmer approximately 10 minutes on medium-low heat to reduce.
3. A little at a time, add remaining 3 Tbsp. butter until butter melts and mixture emulsifies, add basil. Place lemon butter mushroom basil sauce on top of the Rosa. Serve with pasta (I recommend Barilla Pasta Plus, in the yellow box. Thin spaghetti)

If you’re participating in Mouthwatering Mondays be sure to grab your button and link back here. If you don’t link back here, then I’ll delete your link on Mr. Linky, fair is fair. Remember, link directly to your mouthwatering monday permalink, NOT your general blog URL!!! Take the time and visit the other participants and share the foodie love!
Thanks for participating y’all!

Check back in at Noon, I have a really cool giveaway going on with 3 of my favorite ladies!

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