Perfectly soft and tender sea scallops with zucchini and mushrooms in a fabulous, buttery (but super easy) fresh garlic tomato sauce. This recipe comes together in about 20 minutes and the flavor is so good, you’d swear you’re eating at a five star restaurant. The sauce is so intoxicating, you’ll want to drink it … or simply serve with a good crusty bread, pasta or rice to soak up the juices.
The serving size for this recipe is one. Yes, one. Because I made it for myself for lunch one day and totally fell in love. And because you absolutely deserve to treat yourself to an amazing seafood meal when you’re having a meal on your own. It’s SO easy to make, you guys. For all of you who don’t cook when you have nobody to serve, I encourage you to cook just for you. Cook how YOU like it. When others aren’t around, take the opportunity to cook for your own taste buds. Cook things you can’t make when you’re cooking for the other people in your life. You are special and important and you deserve amazing food!
Can you make this dish for multiple people? Oh of course you can! Just add enough of everything for every one you want to serve. It’s a very flexible recipe. The butter doesn’t need to be multiplied like the rest of the ingredients, though. You can up the butter, but once you get to 2 Tablespoons, you can stop. Also, if cooking for a larger crowd, when you go to add the scallops, move the veggies to the outer edges and add the scallops to the middle, stirring them there just until cooked through. This will help you monitor the scallops for done-ness better.
Can you use other tomatoes? Yes, but unless you have really good fresh tomatoes from your garden or a farmer’s market, I wouldn’t recommend substituting any other tomatoes from the grocery store. Campari tomatoes have a really good flavor and that’s a big part of why the tomato sauce tastes so dang good. Good tomatoes = good sauce.
How much of the spices to use? Sprinkle liberally and do a little sample taste until your taste buds are happy. I sprinkled and sprinkled and finally when I took a bite and my taste buds sent me good vibes, only then did I stop. Your taste buds might be different. I’m not going to dictate their experience … you get to do that. Remember, this recipe is for YOU.
What if you don’t eat butter? Feel free to substitute a good quality olive oil for the butter.
I do recommend Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute if you have access to a Trader Joe’s. It’s really a wonderful seasoning. I’ve been using it on everything from potatoes to veggies to chicken and eggs. (And now, on scallops too!) A good substitute for the Trader Joe’s Seasoning is Mrs. Dash.
How to avoid rubbery scallops? Watch them carefully and remove them from heat IMMEDIATELY once they begin to turn opaque and white. Up until that point, stir well to make sure all the scallops get the same amount of heat. Keep in mind that even after you remove the scallops from the heat, they will continue to cook a bit, so it’s okay to take them off the heat a little bit before they are completely done.
By the way, this is my first scallop recipe on this blog (after almost 7 years of blogging) and I’m totally entranced with it, so look for more scallop recipes in the near future. I am so freaking proud that I nailed my first bloggy scallop recipe. (Little happy dance going on there.) Scallops can get rubbery if you over-cook them (kind of like shrimp or fish, but they are even more sensitive to over-cooking), so that’s why I added the scallops last and only cooked for a very short time. It goes really fast, especially if your scallops are small.
I hope you enjoy this fabulous easy (and totally healthy) recipe!
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Scallops & Zucchini in Garlic Tomato Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 Tablespoon grass fed butter (such as Kerrygold)
- 2 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
- 1 small zucchini (about 1 cup chopped)
- 3 – 5 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 3 campari tomatoes, chopped
- Old Bay Seasoning & Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute (or your favorite no-salt seasoning mix such as Mrs. Dash)
- 4 oz. sea scallops
For garnish (optional): freshly shredded parmesan and fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Add the butter to a medium frying pan over medium heat and heat until melted and bubbly. Add the garlic and saute for 1 – 2 minutes (until fragrant), then add the zucchini and saute for a few more minutes.
- Stir in the mushrooms, cover and cook, uncovering frequently to stir, until the mushrooms and zucchini are tender. Stir in the tomatoes and sprinkle everything very liberally with Old Bay Seasoning and 21 Seasoning Salute. Saute for a few minutes, then stir in the scallops and a bit more seasoning. Cook for about 2 minutes longer for small scallops (or longer for larger scallops), just until the scallops turn white. Watch them carefully! You want to remove from heat immediately when the scallops are just barely cooked through or the scallops will get tough.
Notes
You can adjust this recipe for multiple servings by multiplying the ingredients except for the butter. You needn’t go over a Tablespoon or two of butter.
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
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