Recipe - Roasted Garlic Pastina With Nantucket Bay Scallops

6 cup Chicken stock
1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 Shallots; minced
3 cup Sliced shiitake mushrooms;
stems removed
2 cup Toasted pastina; (acini de
pepo)
1 cup Dry white wine
10 Cloves roasted garlic
3 cup Chopped raw spinach
One half cup Grated asiago cheese
48 Nantucket bay scallops
1 Lemon; cut in half

GARNISH
Roasted red pepper coulis;
recipe follows
3 tablespoon Chopped fresh chives
One half cup Diced tomatoes

To make pastina:

Heat chicken stock to a simmer. In a saucepan, heat olive oil over moderate
heat and add shallots. Cook until transparent. Add mushrooms. Add toasted
pastina and stir to coat pastina with olive oil. Add wine and reduce and
continue stirring. Add small amounts of hot chicken stock to pastina and
continue stirring until all stock is added and pastina is al dente. Add
roasted garlic and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped
spinach and cheese and stir to combine.

To make the scallops:

Place a nonstick skillet over high heat. Allow the pan to heat until very
hot. Carefully place bay scallops in the pan and caramelize, rolling
scallops to cook evenly, about 2 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan. Season
with salt and white pepper. Finish with freshly squeezed lemon juice.

To assemble dish:

Place pastina in center of bowl. Arrange 8 scallops around pastina. Add
approximately 1 ounce of red pepper sauce around pastina and garnish with
chopped chives and minced tomatoes.

Yield: 8 servings

NOTES : Recipe courtesy of Robert Wong

Recipe by: Cooking Live Show #CL9037

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by "Angele and Jon Freeman"
jfreeman@comteck.com on Feb 7, 1998