Recipe of the Week: Pasta with Caramelized Leeks and Scallops

We've had potato leek soup once a week since we first made this recipe. Zach, it turns out, is a big fan of leeks, and this is the perfect, warm, and hearty soup that's easy to make when you don't want to spend too much time on cooking dinner.

So this week, we decided to be a little more adventurous with leeks. I found a recipe online that calls for caramelized leeks and scallops -- 2 of our favorite ingredients -- and I knew I had to make it for dinner. Zach and I team cooked this one. I slow-cooked the leeks and watched over the pot of boiling pasta while he bravely seared the scallops. It was a lot of fun, and we ended up with an über delicious dinner. You know it's fantastic when I have to break out some German!

Ingredients
1/2 lb linguine (we used angel hair instead)
2 medium leeks, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 lb sea scallops
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
In a large frying pan, melt the butter and then add leeks. Sprinkle with a little dash of salt.
Cook leeks over medium heat and cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. You want the leeks browned and caramelized but not burnt.
In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente; drain.
Add caramelized leeks and grated parmesan to the pasta.
Pour 1/2 cup wine into the pan that you cooked the leeks in, turn up heat to medium-high, and cook for a couple of minutes, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan into the liquid.
Pour over pasta and leeks and toss evenly. Cover lightly and set aside as you prepare the scallops.
Sear scallops in a skillet until brown and crisped on the outside -- about 2 mins each side.
Serve scallops over pasta. Sprinkle parsley, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and some cheese on the top.

If you don't have plans/ dinner reservations for Valentine's Day, make this! All you need to go with this is some great white wine. It'd be a wonderful treat.


p.s. our beautiful dinner plates are by our friend Scott Frankenberger, a local potter. You can find his work at Artists' Own, or online.