Pasta Fresca

After months of being completely lazy in the kitchen, I finally mustered up the energy to cook something a little fancier that than grilled cheese.  When we were in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, we had the most wonderful pasta dish called Pasta Fresca and I wanted to try to make it myself.  My mom has an amazing ability to eat something at a restaurant and then name almost every ingredient and spice in the dish and re-create it perfectly while somehow actually managing to make it even better than it was before.  Unfortunately I'm nowhere close to mastering that skill.  My version of Pasta Fresca tasted absolutely nothing like the pasta that I had at Mescolanza, but it was still pretty yummy.  Here's what I did:

I chopped up one and a half red onions, minced a whole bulb of garlic (seemed like a lot but it actually wasn't too garlicy), and coursley chopped a small bunch of basil.  Then I added two cans of italian style chopped tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper.  While this mixture simmered over medium-low heat, I put the scallops in salt water then drained them (the guy at Whole Foods recommended this).  Then I cooked the scallops over medium heat with butter, olive oil, and garlic salt for about 6 minutes.  I boiled the spinach pasta for 3 minutes, then scooped some pasta, sauce, and a spoonful of scallops onto a plate and topped it with goat cheese and parmesean.

I've recently really started liking goat cheese.  I forgot how strong it was and added a bit too much, but it still turned out pretty well.   

Buon Appetito!