Friday Food: Three Green Pasta w/ Scallops & Pesto Sauce

Three Green Pasta w/ Scallops & Pesto Sauce

Asparagus, green beans and peas give this pasta its name.  Start with an anti-pasto platter of purchased marinated vegetables, cured meats and cheeses.  Serve the pasta with some crusty Italian bread.   A very versatile menu item change out the scallops for anything that you think will taste good with the pasta.  Shrimp or a grass-fed steak are our go to.

Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients:

-1 pound asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

-1/2 pound small green beans (preferably haricots verts), trimmed, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

-1 pound fettuccine

-3 tablespoons butter

-1  10 ounce package of frozen peas, thawed

-2 pounds sea scallops, each one quartered

-1 1/2 cups purchased pesto sauce

-3/4 cup whipping cream

-2 tablspoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  Add asparagus and green beans and cook until just crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.  Transfer vegetables to bowl, using strainer.  Add fettuccine to water and boil until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring pasta occasionally.

Meanwhile, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heats.  Add asparagus, green beans and peas.  Season with salt and pepper; stir until heated through and coated with butter, about 1 minute.  Return vegetables to bowl.  Melt remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in same skillet.  Add quartered sea scallops, season with salt and pepper and saute until just cooked through, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

Drain pasta and return to skillet.  Add vegetables, scallops, pesto, cream and lemon juice and stir over low heat until pasta is coated with sauce.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.