scallops with spaghetti neri.

after a recent visit to dart's farm shop, i stumbled across something i'd been wanting to cook with for ages; spaghetti neri aka squid ink spaghetti. having had them at a jamie's italian with british scallops, garlic, chilli, anchovies, wine, parsley and capers, i thought i'd take on a few of these flavours in a simple grilled scallop dish with garlic, white onion, white wine, lemon and parsley.

shopping list.

per one person

♥ 60g squid ink pasta 

♥ 6-8 scallops

♥ a handful of parsley

♥ two garlic cloves

♥ the juice of one lemon

♥ half a white onion

♥ a splash of white wine - no more than a small glass

begin by chopping up the ingredients ready as well as removing the orange roe from the white meat of the scallop. it's totally up to you if you discard the roe at this stage - i didn't use it in the final dish but i love the flavour it gives off when they are fried together.

start boiling the spaghetti on a medium heat - this will take around 8-10 minutes with dry pasta. meanwhile, start to soften the onions and garlic together with some olive oil in a saucepan on a low heat. then, add in a splash of white wine.

simmer until the spaghetti is ready to drain.

then, toss them all together with the lemon and parsley and keep warm. 

leave about a tablespoons worth of garlic and onions in the frying pan ready for the scallops.

turn the frying pan with the onion and garlic up really, really high and add a tiny bit of oil if it looks dry. then, throw in the scallops to the middle of the pan and sear them for a couple of minutes each side. here i like to allow the roe to cook on the edge - this could be/probably is totally wrong but i just love it :)

serve up with the scallops scattered on top. perhaps pour yourself a glass of the wine you used in the dish and enjoyyy! :)

how do you like your scallops? do you have any squid ink pasta recipes? i'd love to hear them - i've got most of the packet still in my cupboard! :)