We visited John's mother Sally in December and she and John talked about traditions they used to have. Christmas dinner, and then midnight mass, and then around 2am, they would have a seafood pasta before going to bed. John had made a version of that meal for us last Christmas Eve (2006) and it was really good! Talking about it made me hungry.
And, it made me think about traditions, for the kids and for our family in general. Now is the time to start them. And so for Christmas lunch (we had other plans the night before) I made the following dish, and I think I'll try to do it every year. The kids loved it and it will make Christmas that much more special and memorable. Plus it was easy.
Christmas Eve Linguini with Seafood
For our family of four, one pound of seafood (1/2 medium shrimp, 1/2 scallops). Boil and salt water for pasta. After dropping in the linguini, you have about 12 minutes of cooking time. If you have the ingredients ready, that should be plenty.
Melt about three tablespoons of butter into a pan and add a like amount of olive oil. When the fat is hot, add some three or four cloves of chopped garlic, maybe a shallot if you've got it. Once the herbs get aromatic but before they turn dark brown, add the seafood. Stir, until the scallops are opaque and the shrimp is pink. As they are finishing, add salt, pepper and a splash of white wine to taste.
Dish the linguini into plates and dole out the fish, being liberal with the flavored oil. You could sprinkle a little chopped parsley over the plates at this point.
Yummy!
Okay, this was just the lead in to the next in our series: Da Lu Mien (Birthday noodles).
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