Consuming Passions - Worldwide Events Managers

Pasta with Chilli Scallops

Serves: 4

Notes

Simplicity is the key to much great cooking. It’s also the key to the success of the Manfredi family restaurant, Bel mondo in Sydney’s Rocks district. The mother and son team of Franca and Stefano run the kitchen, working in tandem on dishes such as this one, where Franca makes the pasta while Stefano provides the dish’s finishing touches. If you choose not to make your own pasta, you will need about 350g of bought pasta, just cooked al dente and drained. As with many such simple recipes, it relies on using the finest ingredients, in this case look for the best Australian scallops and a really good extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients

For pasta:

• 3 large eggs, preferably free range
• 300g plain white flour + extra for flouring board
• 1 Tbsp cold water

For scallops:

• 20 scallops, roes left on
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 chillies, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• More oil for pan frying

Method

For pasta:

Add eggs to flour and mix well before adding water. Knead on well floured board until firm dough has been achieved, adding more flour if mixture is too sticky. Feed through pasta machine (fettucine thickness). If you don’t have a pasta machine, roll out dough until a required thickness is reached. Dust with flour, roll up and cut into ribbon pasta, spreading out ribbons onto floured board.

For scallops:

Mix parsley, garlic and chillies in a bowl. Add the 2 Tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Pan fry scallops in a little oil for just a few seconds on one side, turn over and cook for a further few seconds. Do not overcook the scallops. Reduce heat, add half the chilli and parsley sauce to warm through. Add pasta to warm through. Add remaining sauce and serve.