By Quarry Café Kitchen Manager Sarah Klein
Serves 4. Asparagus is one of a handful of foods I refuse to eat unless it really is in season. By the time it’s on the way out, I have usually started to turn a little green myself.
1 package brown rice pasta (Cook according to directions.)
1 pound dry sea scallops, muscle removed, patted very dry with a towel
1 Tbsp. unflavored oil
1 pound local asparagus or fiddleheads or garlic greens or any combination, blanched in salted boiling water.
¼ cup white wine
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp. very cold unsalted butter
After cooking pasta, DO NOT rinse it. Why? It washes away all the starch that will allow any sauce to cling to each piece of pasta. Instead, toss it lightly with some oil.
In a sauté pan large enough to hold everything, heat oil to hot, not smoking
Place scallops in pan. You want to hear a sizzle here. Cook about 1 ½ minutes per side. Remove.
Leave any oil in the pan. Add blanched grasses and salt. Sauté briefly.
Add white wine and bring to low simmer.
Add cooked pasta. Mix well.
Add seared scallops.
Toss everything in the pan. Taste and adjust salt.
Add butter and swirl pan to allow it to melt and create a pan sauce.
(This is known as monte au beurre in classic French cooking.)
Taste again for seasonings, adjust and serve.
