Pasta with Scallops, Basil and Cream

If you have fallen victim to the food Nazi propagandists you may react to this recipe in the way vampires react to garlic and crosses – but instead horrified by the fat content. The food product industry (including but not limited to fast food, convenience foods, soft drinks, and snack foods) delivers up foods we are predisposed to liking through 100 thousand years of evolution. Sugar and fat are both high energy foods and are of great value to a biological creature fueled by calories. So naturally commercial food products will be loaded with either fat, sugar or both.

In any urban area of more that 10,000 residents it’s impossible to be further than ten minutes away from say a Big Mac value meal. A bag of chips and a 16 oz. bottle of pop are even closer. Carry out, fried chicken picked up on the way home from work solves the problem of supper.  We are surrounded and seduced by foods that pack a ton of energy but fail to satiate our hunger. Couple this with the sedentary working world of a “post-industrial economy” and we are doomed. Our evolutionary predispositions are murderous in the American 21^st century environment.

This reality, in turn, has given rise to an army of nagging food Nazi propagandists, who do nothing but badger us about the evils of fat while praising the virtues of raw carrots and such.  In their eyes the most evil fats are those that our grandparents and the generations before them cooked with – tallow, lard, butter, goose grease and bacon fat. A steak pan fried in tallow is the best, as is a pie crust made with lard or butter and ginger snaps made with goose grease are superb. (See Hanna's take on things for pie dough and chicken pot pie.)

The problem isn’t the fat. Our bodies need it for crying out loud. It’s our food culture. Fast with a main meal and two smaller meals a day, get some exercise and then by all means live off the fat of the land.

So here’s what you need for pasta with scallops in basil and cream.  Serves four.

1 lb. Bay Scallops

4 Sliced of Bacon Diced

2 Pints of Heavy Cream

1 Medium Onion Diced

½ Cup Dry White Wine

2 Table Spoons Flour

2 Teaspoons Dried Basil

Pepper to taste

In a two quart pot bring the heavy cream and basil to a boil. Keep your eye on this or it will froth over. Reduce heat to maintain a slow boil. In a four quart pot bring the water to cook the pasta to boil. Fresh linguini or spaghetti is preferable. Dried is okay. Mince the bacon and brown on medium high. There are a lot of things going on here.

Start the pasta now if using dried. Start it with the scallops if using fresh.

There is no need to hurry the bacon. Mince the beautiful onion and add it to the bacon. When the bacon is crisp, remove it and the onions from the sauté pan. Save the fat and whisk the flour into it to create a roux.  Poach the scallops in wine in a skillet. Do not overcook. They become like rubber. If things aren’t coming together in a timely fashion set them aside on a warm plate.

Thicken the reduced cream with the roux, add the bacon and onions and when the pasta is ready add the scallops and poaching wine. Add more wine if necessary. Then serve the scallops and sauce over the paste topped with Parmesan and Romano cheese -- freshly grated if you keep it on hand.  Eat well and enjoy the fat of the land.