Broccoli Rabe, Bacon and Scallop Pizza

"Oh baby!" Those were the exact words of my mother when she bit into this pizza. Do yourself a favor and go make this pizza now. It's so delicious. The flavors go together so well - tender scallops, garlicky broccoli rabe, sweet tomatoes, sauteed onions, crisp, salty bacon and gooey fontina cheese. I mean how can you go wrong? The inspiration for this pizza came from some leftover scallops. I had a craving for broccoli rabe and fortunately the grocery store was brimming with lush, full bouquets of this bitter, leafy green.

I thought about how I could combine all these flavors in a unique way. This pizza came to mind and I'm so glad it did. It was delicious! I'll definitely be putting this pizza in a monthly rotation of meals. It's great for summer, fall, winter and spring too!
It's a bit labor intensive - I mean we're not just slapping marinara, cheese and pepperoni on some dough here. You have to do a lot of prep work to get the toppings ready, but believe me it's worth all the work. It is so yummy with a nice, cold glass of Pinot Grigio. Grill it or bake it, whatever you prefer. Just make it. You'll be glad you did! Enjoy!

Broccoli Rabe, Bacon and Scallop Pizza

1 bunch of broccoli rabe
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil plus two tablespoons
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups fontina cheese, shredded
4 large scallops cooked
5 Campari tomatoes, sliced
1/2 vidalia onion
1 raw pizza dough

First, prepare your broccoli rabe. Trim the stalks from the broccoli rabe so that you just have the leafy tops. Rinse and drain and set aside. Fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and set to boil on the stove. Once boiling, throw in the broccoli rabe and reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Once done, drain the broccoli rabe and set aside.
In a small skillet, place your 1/4 cup olive oil along with your minced garlic. Saute until the garlic is softened and then add your cooked broccoli rabe. Saute for two more minutes and then remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil. Slice your onion thinly and then add to the pan. Saute until softened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Grill or bake your pizza dough according to directions. I buy the raw balls of dough at my grocery store and then grill it on a rimmed baking sheet or pizza pan on the hot grill. I stretch the dough out in the pan while it sits over a hot grill. As the dough starts to cook it takes on the shape of the pan. I close the lid, let it cook up on one side and then flip the dough onto the grill coals to parbake it on the other side. I remove the cooked pizza crust from the grill, return it to the baking sheet or pizza pan and start adding your toppings.
Drizzle the crust with olive oil and then ararnge your sliced tomatoes evenly over the crust. Next distribute your broccoli rabe and sauteed onions evenly over the dough. Next, slice your cooked scallops into discs and arrange evenly over the pizza. Finally top with your fontina cheese and then sprinkle over your crumbled bacon. Bake on 350 until the cheese is melted - or you can return it to the hot grill to melt the cheese.
Serve warm with grated cheese and crushed red pepper.

Herb Pesto Scallop Kabobs with Fontina Black Pepper Risotto

This was one of my "last suppers", I guess you could say. I made this dinner for my family the Sunday before our little baby made her arrival into this world. It was a pretty decent day outside so perfect for a grilled feast, which is what we had. I didn't really follow a recipe for the kabobs.
We simply skewered up some fat, juicy scallops alongside pieces of onion, eggplant, red pepper and baby bella mushroom caps. I drizzled them with olive oil and grilled them until done. Meanwhile, I concocted an herb pesto of Italian parsley, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil and Romano cheese. I left out the pine nuts because my mom is not a big fan of those. And I have to say, without the pine nuts it makes a very light tasting, very fresh pesto sauce. Once the kabobs were done I de-skewered them (is that even a word?) and then tossed them with the pesto.



It was so light and delicious! I thought for sure there would be a ton of leftovers only because I bought way too many ingredients, but we ate almost all of the scallops and veggies up! Healthy and yummy.

And because we were being so good with the main course, I had to create a decadent side dish to go with the grilled abbondanza. I followed a basic risotto recipe, which I now know by heart, and just added about two cups of grated Fontina cheese and tons of freshly ground black pepper at the end. Once you stir in the cheese you get a smooth and creamy cheesy rice dish that is to die for. We literally scrapped the serving bowl clean on this one. Here's the recipe if you're interested in eating way too much of a good thing. Enjoy!

Fontina and Black Pepper Risotto


2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 of a vidalia onion (it calls for the whole thing but I don't like that much onion)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of Arborio rice
1 cup of dry white wine
4-6 cups of chicken stock or water
2 cups grated Fontina cheese
salt and pepper (freshly ground)

Finely chop your onion and garlic. Over medium heat, heat the olive oil along with your butter in a risotto pan or large heavy bottom saute pan. Add your onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 7 to 10 minutes. Then add your arborio rice and toss often, allowing the rice kernels to toast up a bit, about 7 to 10 minutes. This helps them absorb the liquid more efficiently.
Then add your cup of wine and stir until the liquid is nearly completely absorbed. In a saucepan, heat your 4 cups of chicken stock over low heat. Once warm, add it to your risotto one cup at a time, stirring occasionally so your rice doesn't stick or burn. If the liquid is evaporating too quickly in your risotto pan, turn your heat down to medium low. You'll have to find the perfect temp on your range.
Once all the liquid has been absorbed and your rice is cooked to al dente, remove the pan from the stove. This could take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes depending on your stove and temperature and how often you've been stirring.
Off the heat, stir in your grated Fontina until melted. Finally, season liberally with freshly ground pepper. Serve hot!

Cedar Plank Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with Basil Vinaigrette

If you've never used a cedar plank before when grilling then this summer is the time to try it. It's so easy and it imparts such rich depth of flavor to grilled meat and fish. You do have to do some planning ahead for cedar plank grilling because you must soak the board in water for about 2 to 4 hours beforehand. Soaking the board helps it from burning up immediately when you put it over a hot fiery grill. I've never soaked mine in anything but water, mainly because I like the cedar taste and don't want it to compete with much else. But I've heard people soak their planks in wine, cider, vinegar and other concoctions. I keep it simple and stick to water.

Now while I have done salmon on the cedar plank countless times, I saw this idea for scallops at Proud Italian Cook and couldn't resist trying them out. She wrapped her scallops in prosciutto but I had some leftover raw bacon from breakfast that I didn't use so I wrapped mine the classic way, with bacon strips. Between the smoky bacon and the cedar plank these were out of this world! I'll definitely be trying them again. I decided to top them off with a fresh basil vinaigrette to add a green, citrusy bite and lighten up the smokiness a bit. It was the perfect combination. Enjoy!

Cedar Plank Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with Basil Vinaigrette
Source: Me, Proud Italian Cook and Food & Wine Magazine for the Vinaigrette

1 untreated cedar plank (you can buy these in the grocery store and I've also found them in Bed, Bath and Beyond)
10 scallops
10 strips of bacon
olive oil for drizzling
cooking spray
salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette: (As seen in Food & Wine magazine's June issue)
1 small garlic clove
1 cup packed basil leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
pinch of crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

For the scallops:
Soak the cedar plank ahead of time in a bucket of water for two to four hours. You'll need to weight it down with a brick or a heavy pot or pan because it will float to the top.
Meanwhile, rinse your scallops. Wrap each scallop in a strip of bacon. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Heat your grill. Once hot, place your plank on the grill grates, spray the plank with a little cooking spray and then line up your scallops on top.

They will take much longer to cook on the cedar plank than they would directly over the flame. So give it about 25 minutes or so. You'll see the scallops change color and the bacon start to crisp up of course.

Once they appear done, remove them from the grill and serve with a drizzle of the basil vinaigrette.

For the vinaigrette:
In a food processor pulse the basil and garlic until finely chopped. Add in the oil, vinegar and pepper. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Scallops Dijon...a flop?

I don't know if these were a complete flop - I mean it's not like I overcooked them or anything tasted horrible. But they weren't a complete success. I followed this recipe pretty much verbatim except that instead of serving the scallops on a bed of linguine I served them on a bed of sauteed baby spinach. In addition to the fresh parsley, I added in fresh thyme. I also added a piece of crispy prosciutto to the top of the dish for both flavor and presence. I do have to say, this dish looks beautiful.

It's colorful, presents well and is full of fresh ingredients. The flavor however, was on the bland side. I don't really understand why. Perhaps I didn't let the wine reduce enough to concentrate it's flavor? Maybe it just needed more salt? Also, the dijon flavor was a bit overpowering, which is rare for me to say since I absolutely love dijon. So needless to say, I won't be trying this one again. But I had to post because the presentation turned out so pretty. And maybe you have a suggestion for how to improve this recipe? Any thoughts?

Bay Scallops Dijon
source: Whole Foods Market Cookbook

3/4 pound dried linguine
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3/4 pound bay scallops (I used regular sea scallops and counted about 4 per person)
2/3 cup white wine
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard, more to taste
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Pepper to taste

Cook linguine in boiling salted water until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain thoroughly.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add peppers, onions and garlic. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add scallops and cook 1 minute longer. Add wine and simmer for 2 minutes, until scallops are just cooked through. Stir in mustard and parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve over linguine.