Make a creamy lemon sauce with sweet leeks and green peppercorns for the pasta. Serve topped with seared scallops and lemon zest. Cook the scallops quickly over a relatively high heat to give the scallops a lovely caramelised flavour.
Leek and Green Peppercorn Pasta with Seared Scallops Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients:
400g dried calabrese pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
40g butter
3 leeks, trimmed, thinly sliced
55g green peppercorns, drained
2/3 cup cream
1 lemon, shredded rind and juice
32 small scallops, cleaned, roe removed
Method:
Cook pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until just tender, as per packet instructions. Return to saucepan.
Heat the oil and half the butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. When butter has melted and is sizzling, add leeks and cook for 8 minutes or until soft. Stir in peppercorns and season with salt. Add cream and bring to a simmer. Add to pasta with lemon juice. Toss until well combined. Wash pan.
Place scallops onto paper towel and pat dry (this will ensure scallops develop a better colour when seared). Heat half the remaining butter in pan over a medium-high heat. When melted and sizzling add half the scallops and sear for 1 minute or until golden. Turn and cook for 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate. Melt remaining butter and sear remaining scallops.
Spoon pasta mixture into serving bowls. Top with scallops and shredded lemon rind. Serve.
Smart Tip:
If you don’t have calabrese pasta on hand, this recipe will work just as well with penne.