Fettuccine with Lobster, Scallops, and Shrimp in a Mushroom Wine Sauce
Fettuccine with Lobster, Scallops, and Shrimp in a Mushroom Wine Sauce
While at work on Saturday, I was thinking about what I wanted to do for supper after work, I was considering fish and chips, the Acadia Red Fish looked really good, and also the Chilean Sea Bass looked really nice, but in Maine right now Scallops are in season, and I started thinking about how a nice pasta would be nice, and the fresh picked lobster meat we sell looked really good, and shrimp is always nice, even if it isn't local. I have also been experimenting with a mushroom and chardonnay sauce, and I felt that it would be the perfect way to do up the fresh seafood. I was also thinking about what vegetable to include, so I walked around the supermarket fresh veggie section, and the red bell pepper looked good, and would give some nice colour to the dish.
I work at a seafood market in Portland ME, and right now local Maine scallops are in season, they are caught on day boats right out of the pier behind the store. The lobster is fresh caught in the Casco Bay and steamed and picked in store. Fresh seafood definitely improves the taste and the quality of the dish. Also the wine that I used I got from work too, I have recently fallen in love with "Naked" Chardonnay from Four Vines, and that is what I used for the sauce. This turned out amazing, the only issue I had with it, is that I didn't have enough noodles left, so there was definitely a more sauce than noodle ration than I would have desired, as you can see in the photo, but it was still pretty amazing. If these ingredients aren't available near you, you can substitute or omit what you can't get or don't like. But if you can I recommend trying it as it is.
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 shallot (minced)
1/4 lb picked lobster meat (I used only knuckles and claws, if you get a tail in your picked lobster, cut it into bite sized pieces)
1/4 lb sea scallops
1/4 lb large shrimp (peeled and veined)
Olive Oil (enough to cover the bottom of a large pan)
sea salt to taste
1/4 of a bunch of fresh parsley (chopped stems and all, and must use fresh parsley)
1/2 of a red bell pepper (large diced)
Chardonnay (don't measure, just follow the directions below).
1/2 lb of small mushrooms (cut into quarters)
Salted water for boiling pasta
1/2-1 package of your favourite pasta (I recommend fettuccine or linguine)
Directions:
1. Prepare all of your ingredients and set aside until needed, and start the water for the pasta, (continue with the other steps until the water reaches a rolling boil, then add your pasta and cook until al dente according to the directions on the package.
2. Heat enough olive oil to thickly coat the bottom of a large deep pan, over a medium-medium high heat (setting 6 on an electric stove), and add a few pinches of sea salt.
3. Add the garlic, shallot, and the stems of the parsley (1/4th of the pile in the pic) and cook until aromatic (do not burn the garlic, or you will ruin the taste of the sauce).
4. Add the Scallops and shrimp. Cook them until the are cooked about halfway through (just a few minutes, watch for when they are white and opaque about halfway through).
5. When the shrimp and scallops are cooked halfway through, flip them over and add in enough wine to go up to about half the depth of the shrimp and scallops. (cook until the shrimp and scallops are opaque all the way through, you can tell by looking at the shrimp, and the scallops should be firm to the touch).
6. Remove the shrimp and scallops, and continue to let the wine reduce until it has thickened.
7. Then add the mushrooms, the bell pepper, and half of the remaining parsley, I like to add a few more pinches of sea salt at this point as well. Cook until the mushrooms have softened and the bell pepper has become tender. At some point the mushrooms are going to absorb the moisture, and you will then add more of the wine, enough to go about halfway up the mushrooms (just like you did for the scallops and shrimp), and let that cook until reduced and until the mushrooms are softened and the bell pepper is tender.
8. You should have a nice sauce going, so now add in the picked lobster meat, and half of the remaining pile of parsley (your pile should have started about the size of the pile pictured, maybe about 1/4 of a cup or so), toss until the lobster is warm to the touch, and then add in the shrimp and scallops, and toss until they are warm again.
9. At this point your noodles should be done (if they finished early then strain and shock them with cold water, and set aside), add the pasta to the sauce (or vice versa if you pan is too small for both sauce and pasta), toss until everything is well mixed, and then serve, try to get a little of all of the ingredients on each plate. And top each plate with a garnish of parsley from your remaining parsley pile.
Notes:
The reason I didn't include cooking times, is because there are so many factors that could affect the cook times, and it is much easier to cook this by sight rather than by times. That is a huge difference between baking a cooking, baking requires very specific times, where as cooking, is very much a visual thing. I can't tell you how long it takes for garlic and shallot to get aromatic, but I can tell you that you can tell by sight, and if you don't think you can, stop selling yourself short. The shallot will be soft, and you can smell the aromas of the garlic and shallot being released, then you know it is time to add the seafood. Also with the seafood, I am often asked "how long do I cook ______", and I don't mean to be a smart-ass when I say, until it is done, but honestly, especially with seafood that is the best answer that you can be given. There are so many factors that could effect the cooking time of any given piece of seafood, how thick, how big, what part of the fish, how hot was your pan to start with??? I can't give a blanket answer that will give you consistent results. So with this recipe the lobster is already cooked, you are just rewarming it. Shrimp you simply tell by the looks, look at the photo, do you see how it is opaque, and the veins have turned that beautiful pinkish orange colour, that means it is done. Scallops, the are opaque all the way through, and firm to the touch, they might start to have cracks in the edges. You can safely eat both undercooked shrimp and scallops, so don't be scared. Raw scallops are a wonderful treat, really with both shrimp and scallops, as well as most fish, you just need to kill the bacteria on the outside, so don't freak out about undercooking, overcooking is the real tragedy. If you are not sure of your skills, buy a couple extra scallops, and shrimps, and when you think it is done, cut into it and check for a nice consistent opaque texture through out for both of them, it is really that simple. I also don't give times and exact measurements for the sauce, because there are factors that can affect that too, just pour enough to make it liquid, but not soup, and then cook until that liquid reduces into a thicker sauce, if you are not used to this, then add smaller amounts and just add a little more as needed, it should come out as a sauce not as a soup, so that it can cover all of the noodles, but not make the noodles swim, practice making the sauce with a cheap chardonnay and cheap button mushrooms, without the seafood, and practice it until you get used to reducing wine to create a sauce. When you get it perfected without the expensive ingredients, then try it with the more expensive ingredients.
To Make Without Seafood, or to Make it Vegan:
You can also use chicken if you don't like seafood, this sauce is great on any pasta, and is also great without meat if you are looking for a vegan option. You can also add more or different veggies. Be creative, and have fun, cooking should be all about having fun.
I also made this same sauce but added quartered cherry tomatoes, and brussels sprouts, and only shrimp for seafood, and served it with a med rare lamb steak, and it was delicious. Here is a photo of that meal:
I work at a seafood market in Portland ME, and right now local Maine scallops are in season, they are caught on day boats right out of the pier behind the store. The lobster is fresh caught in the Casco Bay and steamed and picked in store. Fresh seafood definitely improves the taste and the quality of the dish. Also the wine that I used I got from work too, I have recently fallen in love with "Naked" Chardonnay from Four Vines, and that is what I used for the sauce. This turned out amazing, the only issue I had with it, is that I didn't have enough noodles left, so there was definitely a more sauce than noodle ration than I would have desired, as you can see in the photo, but it was still pretty amazing. If these ingredients aren't available near you, you can substitute or omit what you can't get or don't like. But if you can I recommend trying it as it is.
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 shallot (minced)
1/4 lb picked lobster meat (I used only knuckles and claws, if you get a tail in your picked lobster, cut it into bite sized pieces)
1/4 lb sea scallops
1/4 lb large shrimp (peeled and veined)
Olive Oil (enough to cover the bottom of a large pan)
sea salt to taste
1/4 of a bunch of fresh parsley (chopped stems and all, and must use fresh parsley)
1/2 of a red bell pepper (large diced)
Chardonnay (don't measure, just follow the directions below).
1/2 lb of small mushrooms (cut into quarters)
Salted water for boiling pasta
1/2-1 package of your favourite pasta (I recommend fettuccine or linguine)
Directions:
1. Prepare all of your ingredients and set aside until needed, and start the water for the pasta, (continue with the other steps until the water reaches a rolling boil, then add your pasta and cook until al dente according to the directions on the package.
2. Heat enough olive oil to thickly coat the bottom of a large deep pan, over a medium-medium high heat (setting 6 on an electric stove), and add a few pinches of sea salt.
3. Add the garlic, shallot, and the stems of the parsley (1/4th of the pile in the pic) and cook until aromatic (do not burn the garlic, or you will ruin the taste of the sauce).
4. Add the Scallops and shrimp. Cook them until the are cooked about halfway through (just a few minutes, watch for when they are white and opaque about halfway through).
5. When the shrimp and scallops are cooked halfway through, flip them over and add in enough wine to go up to about half the depth of the shrimp and scallops. (cook until the shrimp and scallops are opaque all the way through, you can tell by looking at the shrimp, and the scallops should be firm to the touch).
6. Remove the shrimp and scallops, and continue to let the wine reduce until it has thickened.
7. Then add the mushrooms, the bell pepper, and half of the remaining parsley, I like to add a few more pinches of sea salt at this point as well. Cook until the mushrooms have softened and the bell pepper has become tender. At some point the mushrooms are going to absorb the moisture, and you will then add more of the wine, enough to go about halfway up the mushrooms (just like you did for the scallops and shrimp), and let that cook until reduced and until the mushrooms are softened and the bell pepper is tender.
8. You should have a nice sauce going, so now add in the picked lobster meat, and half of the remaining pile of parsley (your pile should have started about the size of the pile pictured, maybe about 1/4 of a cup or so), toss until the lobster is warm to the touch, and then add in the shrimp and scallops, and toss until they are warm again.
9. At this point your noodles should be done (if they finished early then strain and shock them with cold water, and set aside), add the pasta to the sauce (or vice versa if you pan is too small for both sauce and pasta), toss until everything is well mixed, and then serve, try to get a little of all of the ingredients on each plate. And top each plate with a garnish of parsley from your remaining parsley pile.
Notes:
The reason I didn't include cooking times, is because there are so many factors that could affect the cook times, and it is much easier to cook this by sight rather than by times. That is a huge difference between baking a cooking, baking requires very specific times, where as cooking, is very much a visual thing. I can't tell you how long it takes for garlic and shallot to get aromatic, but I can tell you that you can tell by sight, and if you don't think you can, stop selling yourself short. The shallot will be soft, and you can smell the aromas of the garlic and shallot being released, then you know it is time to add the seafood. Also with the seafood, I am often asked "how long do I cook ______", and I don't mean to be a smart-ass when I say, until it is done, but honestly, especially with seafood that is the best answer that you can be given. There are so many factors that could effect the cooking time of any given piece of seafood, how thick, how big, what part of the fish, how hot was your pan to start with??? I can't give a blanket answer that will give you consistent results. So with this recipe the lobster is already cooked, you are just rewarming it. Shrimp you simply tell by the looks, look at the photo, do you see how it is opaque, and the veins have turned that beautiful pinkish orange colour, that means it is done. Scallops, the are opaque all the way through, and firm to the touch, they might start to have cracks in the edges. You can safely eat both undercooked shrimp and scallops, so don't be scared. Raw scallops are a wonderful treat, really with both shrimp and scallops, as well as most fish, you just need to kill the bacteria on the outside, so don't freak out about undercooking, overcooking is the real tragedy. If you are not sure of your skills, buy a couple extra scallops, and shrimps, and when you think it is done, cut into it and check for a nice consistent opaque texture through out for both of them, it is really that simple. I also don't give times and exact measurements for the sauce, because there are factors that can affect that too, just pour enough to make it liquid, but not soup, and then cook until that liquid reduces into a thicker sauce, if you are not used to this, then add smaller amounts and just add a little more as needed, it should come out as a sauce not as a soup, so that it can cover all of the noodles, but not make the noodles swim, practice making the sauce with a cheap chardonnay and cheap button mushrooms, without the seafood, and practice it until you get used to reducing wine to create a sauce. When you get it perfected without the expensive ingredients, then try it with the more expensive ingredients.
To Make Without Seafood, or to Make it Vegan:
You can also use chicken if you don't like seafood, this sauce is great on any pasta, and is also great without meat if you are looking for a vegan option. You can also add more or different veggies. Be creative, and have fun, cooking should be all about having fun.
I also made this same sauce but added quartered cherry tomatoes, and brussels sprouts, and only shrimp for seafood, and served it with a med rare lamb steak, and it was delicious. Here is a photo of that meal:
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