This is my favourite homemade recipe and I can actually get my cheese-hating, vegetable-loathing husband to eat bowls of it! Sometimes it’s nice to give the kids a little seafood treat and I love to expose them to new flavours and textures. I’m a bit of a pasta snob because I make all of my sauces from scratch. This recipe took a few tries before I got the flavours perfect and the ratios correct but everyone in the family likes it. The jalapenos aren’t overpowering and I always throw in extra veggies to boost our intake (try frozen peas, sauteed onions and some corn). This recipe serves 8 people.
Ingredients:
340 grams spaghetti
750 mL 10% cream
1 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup shrimp
1 cup oyster bay scallops
1 tbs butter
5 cloves chopped garlic
1 deseeded, finely chopped jalapeno
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente (no more than 9 minutes). Do not overcook because the sauce that we add later will soften it more. Reserve ¼ cup pasta water. Set aside.
In a deep pan begin by warming cream over medium heat. Make sure to keep an eye on it as milk tends to burn quickly. Add cheese as milk starts to bubble. Stir until melted and simmer on low. If the mixture is too thin, add some of the pasta water, a few tablespoons at a time. It will be thin at first then thicken quickly.
In the meantime, cook shrimp until it just turns pink with half of the garlic, and half butter. Sprinkle with pepper and add to cream sauce.
Dry scallops then cook them on medium high heat with the rest of the garlic and butter - about 2 minutes on the first side, and one minute on the second side. You want them to be translucent but a bit springy. Salt scallops well and add to cream sauce.
Stir well to combine then add spaghetti noodles. Sprinkle with jalapenos (and other mix-ins that you can think of). Stir again and serve piping hot.
