Spaghetti with Spicy Scallops
Sear the scallops, take them out, build the sauce in what they left behind, and give them one minute back at the end.
Total: 30 minYield: 2 servingsMethod: Skillet
Why the scallops leave the pan
A scallop takes about four minutes to cook and about six to ruin. The sauce takes ten. Cooking them together would guarantee the scallops were tight and rubbery by the time the tomatoes had reduced, which is why the recipe sears them first, removes them, and returns them for a single minute at the very end.
What they leave behind is the reason the sauce tastes of seafood. The browned residue on the pan base dissolves into the white wine at step 6 and carries through the whole dish — which is also why the wine goes into the same unwashed pan.
On the scallops
One purchase decision affects this dish more than any technique.
- Dry-packed vs wet-packed
- Wet-packed scallops are soaked in a phosphate solution that makes them hold water. They will not brown — they release liquid into the pan and poach. Dry-packed cost more and sear properly.
- Large sea scallops
- The recipe specifies large. Small bay scallops overcook well inside the 2 minutes per side given here.
- Patting dry
- Thoroughly, with paper towels, right before they go in. Surface moisture has to evaporate before browning can start, and any that remains is time the scallop spends overcooking.
Cues to watch
- The pan must shimmerOil that moves in ripples, just before smoking. A moderate pan gives grey scallops.
- Do not move themTwo minutes, undisturbed, then turn once. Repositioning a scallop interrupts the crust that is forming.
- Reduce the wine properlyBy about half. Under-reduced wine leaves the sauce thin and tasting sharply of alcohol.
Spaghetti with Spicy Scallops
Scallops seared hard and set aside, a quick tomato and white wine sauce built in the same pan, and the two brought back together at the last moment so the scallops never cook twice.
- Seafood
- Dinner
- Skillet
Cook’s checkpoint
- Frying oil
- 350°F / 175°C
- Chicken, thickest part
- 165°F / 74°C
Use a food thermometer. Color and time alone don’t confirm poultry is done.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
- Buy dry-packed scallops if you can. Wet-packed scallops are treated with a solution that holds water and will not brown properly.
- The scallops leave the pan before the sauce is made and return for one minute at the end. That is the whole technique.
- Linguine or angel hair work in place of spaghetti.
Cooking Mode
Questions
- Can I leave out the wine?
- The wine deglazes the pan and forms the base of the sauce, so removing it loses both the fond and the acidity. The source does not give a substitute.
- How do I know the scallops are done?
- Opaque through with the very center barely translucent, which corresponds to the 145°F (63°C) USDA figure for seafood. Two minutes per side over properly hot heat gets there.
- Is the smoked paprika important?
- It is marked optional in the source. It adds depth against the chili heat, but the dish works without it.
