At Home Italian Cooking By JoElaine

Shrimp Scampi by JoElaine (Balsamo) Quinn

Ingredients:

2 pounds of large shrimp

4 Tbsps of unsalted butter

4 Tbsps of olive oil

8 garlic cloves , minced

1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

Salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsps of fresh parsley,

chopped Lemon slices

Process,

1. In a large pot of boiling water add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or al dente.

2. In a large skillet, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the shrimp, salt, and the pepper and sauté until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice. Toss to combine. When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve with lemon slices.

Enjoy!

Seared Scallops with Creamy Garlic Sauce by JoElaine (Balsamo) Quinn

Ingredients:

1 lb sea scallops, dry

Salt

Fresh cracked black pepper

2 Tbsp of olive oil

Sauce:

2 Tbsp of unsalted butter

4 garlic cloves , chopped

4 Tbsp of chicken stock

1 cup of heavy cream

1/2 cup of fresh grated Parmesa cheese salt to taste

Pasta:

Thin spaghetti or pasta that you like.

Process,

1. Start cooking pasta according to the package instructions, if you're serving these scallops with pasta. Cook it at the same time as scallops and sauce, strain, and set aside.

2 Rinse off scallops with cold water and pat each one dry with a paper towel.

Note: make sure that the scallops are very dry. That's how they sear properly.

3. Preheat a cooking pan first over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and let it heat through until you start to see a little smoke .

4. Season scallops with salt and pepper on both sides right before adding the pan.

5. Place scallops into the skillet but leave some room in between each one. To ensure a nice sear. Note: Do the scallops in batches. You don't want to crowd the pan.

6. Do not move or touch them until ready to flip.

7. Sear scallops for about 2 minutes (a few seconds more or a few seconds less depending on the size). Flip each in the same order as you put them inthe pan and sear another 2 minutes.

8. Take scallops out of the pan and set aside while preparing the sauce.

Sauce,

1. Turn the heat down to medium and melt butter in the same pan where you cooked the scallops.

2. Add chopped garlic and let it sear for a couple of seconds, until fragrant.

3. Pour in stock and deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom of the pan.

4. Pour in heavy cream and slowly stir to mix. Let it heat through for a minute or two.

5. Stir in grated Parmesan cheese and taste to see if you need more salt.

6. Gently and slowly stir the sauce as it heats through and comes to a simmer. Let it gently simmer for a couple of minutes to thicken. Once sauce is thickened, add scallops back just enough to heat them up and take off heat.

7. If you're making this dish with pasta, you can toss pasta with sauce or pour the sauce over the pasta.

Note: if the sauce is to thick just add pasta water for a thinner sauce.

Enjoy!