Asian Pesto With Orecchiette Pasta And Scallops

This is Asian Pesto With Orecchiette Pasta and Scallops. You might want to know that there is no cheese and pine nuts in the pesto. Besides using the pesto with pasta, you can also serve it as a dip with chips or with grilled chicken, which incidentally is another of my favorites. Just lightly season the chicken with pesto before grilling and serve it with salad or as a sandwich.


Asian Pesto With Orecchiette Pasta And Scallops
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1 Dozen Sea Scallops
400g Orecchiette Pasta
1 Cup Grape Tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon or to taste

Asian Pesto
6 Cloves Garlic, peeled
3 Jalapeno Peppers, seeded
5 Thai Bird?s Eye Chilies, chopped (optional)
¾ Cup Packed Basil Leaves
¾ Cup Packed Fresh Cilantro
½ Cup Packed Fresh Mint Leaves
1 Cup Toasted Walnuts
Zest of 2 Lemons
Sea Salt to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ Cup Hazelnut Oil

Method

Make the pesto. Combine the garlic, peppers, chilies, basil, cilantro, mint leaves, walnuts, and lemon zest in a food processor or a blender. Process all the ingredients with the oils and season with sea salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.

Sear the scallops in a cast-iron pan that has been heating over a high heat with 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil. Turn scallops once, and remove from heat when scallops are just cooked, about 1 minute per side.?

Toss the pasta with ½ of the pesto recipe, tomatoes and lemon juice. Then top with scallops and season with extra black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.