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Ever since I’ve finished reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food [I'll talk more about the book later, it's a real gem.], I can’t help but think of ways to eat organic and local. I’ve been doing my best to eat organic food for years now, but didn’t pay much attention to where they came from. By eating locally farmed food, not only do we get really fresh food, but it traveled less so the nutrients are more intact compared to (fresh food) that braved thousands of miles to get to our grocery stores. That’s one of the things I remember reading.

I actually picked up Pollan’s book when I got here in Vancouver. Was it such a coincidence that my frequent weekly stops — my friend’s spa and my chiropractor — are within the same vicinity as the Granville Island public market? It’s meant. :-) Last week, after having a facial that made my skin very happy and getting one of my last few therapies for my back, I headed down to the public market to shop for dinner. I picked some beautiful fresh sea scallops, fresh spinach linguine, rye sourdough bread [not in photos], pancetta [what a deal for $2.29 for 100 grams!], and rosemary.

And voila, dinner:

The scallops were to die for. They were so unbelievably fresh, sweet, and did I mention they were huge? I seared them on the same pan and oil where the pancetta was fried. I cooked the ’sauce’ on that pan as well, so it had all the nice flavors to go with the tomatoes, onions, and garlic. The scallops cooked darker than usual because of the whole wheat flour it was rolled in, but you can use white flour if you prefer. I placed the crispy pancetta one on top of another, then a little stem of rosemary (you’ll be using just one rosemary sprig divided into three for this recipe), and the hot scallop going on top. The heat brought out the nice aroma of the rosemary.

I’m still trying to learn to sear scallops. It looked so easy during our cooking class but alas, I couldn’t replicate them. Ugh. Here I go again, being the perfectionist. I hope it’s not going to be an obsession like those Cinnamon Rolls.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe [and almost step-by-step photos]:

Seared Sea Scallops with Spinach Linguine

Seared Sea Scallops with Spinach Linguine
» download the PDF recipe

Ingredients:

• fresh linguine
• 4 very thin slices of pancetta
• 2 sea scallops
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1 roma tomato, shopped
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/4 tsp garlic
• olive oil
• sea salt
• fresh lemon wedge

Preparation:

1. Boil water for your pasta.
2. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on your pan and place lay the pancetta slices flat. Fry in medium-low until crispy. Place it on a plate with paper towel to drain out the excess oil.
3. In a small bowl, mix the flour, cumin, salt, and pepper. Use the cumin according to how spicy you want your scallops to be. The 1/2 tsp was enough to give it a slight kick.
4. Wipe your scallops with a paper towel and roll into the flour mixture. Pat the excess flour off. On the same pan and oil used for the pancetta, sear the scallops in med-high heat. [Use a cast iron skillet or a stainless steel pan. The scallops will cook in about a minute per side and the caramelization would be very pretty.] Add more oil if needed. The cooking time for the scallops would depend on how thick (and/or cold) they are.
5. Wash a rosemary sprig and dry it with a paper towel. Divide it into three. Place two pancetta slices on a plate, and another on top of each, then a piece of rosemary.
6. Once the scallops are done (i.e. caramelized outside, put it on top of the rosemary.
7. Sprinkle salt to your boiling water. Then add your pasta. Fresh pasta will cook for about 3-5 minutes.
8. Saute the onions in the same pan, in medium-low heat, for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the remaining rosemary with the stem removed. Allow the tomatoes to soften. Add a little salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
9. Toss in the pasta. Serve with the scallops and a fresh lemon wedge.