Scallops remind me a lot of my childhood. It’s my dad’s favorite so we always have it on special occasions. Our cook then was not really very imaginative. She would fry it and then we would dip it in soy sauce. End of story.  I used to mix mine with pesto pasta. Now, I ditched the pasta and went straight to the good stuff, so just plain scallops and pesto.

I make my own pesto ahead of time. There’s nothing to it. You just need a ton of basil leaves, pine nuts and good olive oil. Whip em up in a food processor and you’re done! If you have are not inclined to DIY, Trader Joe’s has good stuff. Try not to get one on the “creamy” side, not for this recipe anyway.

Get a pound of giant scallops, wash then pat dry. Fry in olive oil about 2 minutes per side until translucent in color. Scallops are pretty much like cooking squid or chicken. Cook ’em too long or too soon, it ends up chewy.

Drain in paper towels then mix with 3 T of pesto. For a special touch I add a few leaves of finely chopped mint

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Serve warm. No soy sauce needed.