I love scouring the internet for recipes.  (It’s like looking at cute guys in a bar. I wonder what’s he’s like. And him. And yeah, that guy looks pretty yummy too. ) But something’s starting to piss me off.

The other day I’m looking for a recipe that has scallops and pasta in it.  Finally I find a promising recipe on a grouprecipes.com. Excited I scroll down for the comments to see if anyone else dug it besides the cook posting. Here’s what I get.

“Looks  yummy.” — Susie Stupid
“Awesome recipe. Will def try it.”  — Bill the Pill
“This is for dinner tonight! Thanks.” — Boring Betty
(Note: I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent.)

I keep scrolling down the list of comments and it’s more of the same meaningless props.  “A must-try.”  “Thanks for sharing.”  And even those who said they’d try it never re-posted with the results, which can only mean one thing:  They’re big fat liars!

Maybe it’s because they’re afraid of getting payback for negative feedback on one of their recipes, or worse, being one-upped.  Well I say grow a pair of blogging balls. Just like with boy-watching, sometimes you got to stop looking and start shagging!

That said, at least I had the balls to actually make the pasta dish and WOW! Did it ever deliver!!!   It was like crack, once I tried it  I needed to make it again immediately. My French cock lapped it up like a golden lab,   and so did my girlfirends (Louisa and Georgia)  for whom I made it for the following week. It’s going to be a new staple for me, that’s for sure.

Here’s the recipe, with special thanks to the chick (identified as simply “Linebb956”) who posted it.

Scandalous Scallops In A Creamy Tomato Sauce

The recipe has a few extra steps in it that make it more involved (blanching and peeling the tomatos first, separating the sauce) but it’s soooo worth it. The choice of shell pasta (something I never use) is perfect too.

I reduced the cream and butter, per the cfc philosophy, with no loss of flavour.

Ingredients

1 gallon boiling water

1/ 1/2 pounds bay scallops (I used a .. bag of frozen, thawing and rinsing them first)

1 tablespoon butter

3 medium tomatoes

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons minced shallots (I used leeks the first time, shallots are awesome too.)

3 tablespoon chives 

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup shredded fresh basil

1/4 – 1/2  cup heavy cream (the original called for a whole cup, which I found unnecessary)

4 cups cooked pasta shells

salt and pepper to taste.

Directions 

1. Plunge the tomatoes into the water for 20 to 30 seconds or until the skin just begins to show a tiny split or two.

2. Remove and let cool for a second or two. 

3. Peel the tomato under running water.

4. Slice into halves and gently squeeze the tomato to force out the seeds.

5. Chop the tomato quickly into a glass bowl until ready for use. (Glass is for the acid, it won’t react with glass.)

6. Rinse the scallops. (If you’re using regular scallops, but then in half, since they are twice the size.)

7. Heat the butter in a pan and add the scallops. Cook and toss for a minute .

8. Add the wine, shallots, chives, garlic and bell pepper. Cover the pan and let simmer for three minutes or until the scallops are just done.

9. Remove the scallops with a slotted spoon and set aside.

10. Add the basil to the liquid from the cooked scallops and put into a separate bowl.

11. Put the cream and chopped tomato into the pan and reduce over high heat buy one-half.

12. Add the reserved liquid and reduce by half again.

13. Add the pasta to this to heat through and then the scallops for just a minute.

14. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Recipe can serve four, but with two people you’ll have seconds (and trust me, you will.)

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