Easy End of Summer Scallop w. Zucchini & Pancetta
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1lb Scallops
- 2 lbs Zucchini (about 4 meadium sized)
- 2 stalks Corn
- 4 oz Cubed Pancetta
- 2 tbs Basil tarragon is also great
- 1 Lemon
- 1 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tbs Salted Butter
- Salt
- 1 oz Parmigianno Reggiano*
- 1-2 Garlic Cloves minced
Instructions
- Prep Ingredients: Cut zucchini into small chunks. Remove corn from stalk, mince garlic & chop tarragon. Remove scallops from fridge, pat dry. Make sure to remove side muscle.*
- Cook Pancetta: You’ll need 2 skillets. In a small skillet, cook pancetta on medium-low until fat has rendered & pancetta starts to get brown and crispy. Scoop pancetta out with a slotted spoon & set skillet with fat aside. We’re going to use it! This should take 5-10 minutes. You can start cooking veggies while this is going on.
- Cook Veggies: In your second, larger skillet, add 1tbs oil & let heat for 2 mins on medium heat. Add zucchini, toss zucchini in oil & pinch salt. Stop touching them & let them brown on one side. Leave to sit for about 5 minutes. Toss zucchini, there should be some browning. Next, add butter, garlic & tarragon. The butter should sizzle, garlic will cook and everything will smell super delicious. Turn heat to very low. Add corn & pancetta & toss. Let sit in very low heat to stay warm.
- Sear Scallops: Place the skillet you cooked the pancetta in (not cleaned) back on high heat. Add a splash more oil if it seems a little dry. Make sure oil is hot. Salt & Pepper your scallops on one side. Add scallops to pan. They should sizzle when they hit the pan. If it doesn’t, take it out and wait another minute. Add scallops to skillet working in batches. Cook them, salt side down. Cook on high 3-4 minutes. Flip for 30 seconds until scallop is just completely opaque & remove. Add to veggies & pancetta to keep warm while searing the others.
- Serve scallops and zucchini pancetta mixture with squeeze of lemon & fresh grated parmesan.
Notes
Things to Know:
-You can sub with your favorited grate parm, but I just prefer parm reg here
-Scallop Side Muscle: If your scallop has a small flap on the side of it, that is the muscle where it used to be connected to the shell.
- You will be working with 2 skillets, preferably one small and one large, but in the end it doesn’t matter too much! This will be a good recipe to work on controlling heat well. Let pancetta cook medium-low, it can render for as long as ten mins.