This Seafood Linguine in a Cream Sauce recipe features large scallops and cod – my favorite white fish – in a rich and flavorful cream sauce.  It’s easy to make, and as silky smooth and delicious as any restaurant Seafood Linguine.

Seafood Linguine in a Cream Sauce

There are a few main elements to the cream sauce, which really make this dish stand out.  First, I used generous portions of minced garlic, deglazed with ample white wine, and added 18% table cream.  I reduced the sauce with herbs, and then tossed the linguine pasta and seafood in the sauce for this terrific meal.  Check out this recipe, HD cooking video, and recommended wine pairing.

High Definition Video Presented Here:

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4 people, depending on portion size

Ingredients:

• 1 – 375g package of Linguine
• 1 lb of sea scallops, any size (for larger scallops cut them into bit-sized pieces)
• 1 lb of any white fish (like cod, haddock, sea bass, pollack, halibut etc.) cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 stick of butter
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 small anchovies
• 2 cups of white wine
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups of 18% table cream or 1 cup of whipping cream
• small handful of oregano, chopped
• small handful of thyme
• 1 small chili pepper for mild heat (or not, your choice)
• salt, pepper to taste
• 1 cups of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese)
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
• 1 lemon, sliced into wedges for sprinkling on fish

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, add the linguine and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian “al dente.”)
2. Meanwhile, using a deep frying pan, melt the butter in olive oil (this prevents the butter from burning, but still imparts the taste of butter).    Fry the seafood up on both sides, about 3 minutes per side until golden brown.  Once the seafood is cooked, remove from the frying pan and set aside.  You don’t want to overcook the seafood!
3. In the same frying pan, with the seafood removed, fry up the mined garlic and anchovies for 1-2 minutes.  You can add a bit of the anchovy oil if you need a bit more oil in the pan.  Careful, garlic burns easily, so don’t overdo it!
4. As soon as the garlic has a bit of color, deglaze the pan with about 2 cups of white wine (deglazing means to use the liquid to scrape off all of the little brown bits on the bottom of the frying pan).  I deglazed with the same wine I served this dish with (see below for wine pairing)
5. Once deglazed, add the cream and mix well
6. Add the herbs and chili pepper to the cream sauce
7. Let the wine and cream sauce reduce down a bit until the thickness described in the video, and add salt and pepper to taste
8. Once the cream has has the correct consistency, Drain the linguine in a colander and place the linguine pasta into the cream sauce to coat evenly.  Be sure to reserve about a cup of  the starchy cooking water.  A little bit of this water can be added to the sauce to make it creamy if it starts to get too thick.
9. Add the seafood back to the linguine and cream sauce and coat evenly
10. Plate the seafood linguine and cream sauce, and garnish with parsley.  Sprinkle with a little grated Parmigiano-Reggiano if you’d like.  Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Enjoy!

I served this Seafood Linguine in Cream Sauce with a dry, French wine, such as  Pouilly-Fumé.  It is dry white wine from the Loire Valley wine-producing region of France. Pouilly-Fumé is made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape variety. It is characterized by smoky flavors and fruit notes.  A very crisp wine great for balancing the richness of the cream sauce.

Pouilly Fume

More information can be found at the LCBO web site.   It retails for CAD$22, or about half that price anywhere else in the world (thanks, liquor taxes!)