Pan Seared Sea Scallops & Shrimp Scampi w/ Baby Bella Mushrooms and Herbs Pizzahh!

IIn deciding what to blog about for April, and the subsequent recipe I would post, I just didn’t feel super “springy”. This is because spring is coming late this year, and it hasn’t really sprung its beauty for us yet here in the northeast U.S.. We even have had multiple snowstorms in April. Boo!

So when I was at the grocery store ready to whip something together on the fly for my April food blog (loll), I began thinking…

What do I want to eat this time of year? What am I in the mood for?

Well, the easy answer was and always is…. PIZZAHH!!

It’s pretty much my favorite food, the perfect food, and Pizzahh time is most definitely ANY time if you ask me!

But as you all are beginning to get to know me well, you also know that I like doing things a little bit different, I like doing unique things with ordinary food ingredients, and I like going right when everyone else is going left.

I’m not being a rebel or defiant, but more an artist in life and in thought.

I really get tired of always seeing the same ole things, like pepperoni and margarita pizza everywhere I look. Now bear in mind that pepperoni pizza is one of my top favorite pizzahh types! Even still, I really don’t want to be so regimented and stuck in my ways that I feel like an old lady in her shoe!!

So, I instantly got a delicious idea to combine my favorite seafood scampi dish with a fresh made pizza… and better yet, add some delicious scallops too! Why not! I concluded April recipe would be elegance meets every day… meets happy tummy…. a perfect meal!

I had no idea if my pizza would come out all right cooked in my home oven, but I am never afraid to try something new with food. What’s the very worst thing that could happen? Ok, well it could be a bit soggy or just not yummy. No biggie. If that’s the worst thing in my world to worry about, then I thank God for that silly little problem!

Lastly, in contemplating making this elegant pizzahh (she says dramatically), I just didn’t feel like making a huge mess in my kitchen making homemade dough. I’ve made bread and lots of fancy French dough’s before in culinary school and also at home, but I just needed a time saver this particular day. I am so busy juggling so many things, and I know others are busy as well. So I decided that if I could go to my favorite local pizza shop and buy their beautiful freshly made pizza dough from them, then why the heck wouldn’t I do this on a busy day? It surely saves loads of time and saves us from adding more housework to be done. This then leaves much more time to eat, drink, and enjoy our lives. So that’s what I did. I bought my fresh dough to save some time, but if you want to make your own, then go for it! Some days are for cooking 12 hours in the kitchen, and others are for spending one hour in the kitchen and 11 hours living life with those you love. So that’s how this little glamorous recipe was born.

The really amazing song that I listened to on repeat, for days endlessly, for inspiration for my April Pizzahh recipe was Meek Mill (feat. Chris Brown and Ty Dolla) “Whatever You Need”… gorgeousss song! Take a listen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI94HFA_HFk

Prep: 30 minutes

Completion: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

  • Pizza dough, large, roughly 1.25 pounds, chilled and wrapped in plastic wrap
  • Olive Oil, 3 Tbsp
  • Veg Oil, 6 Tbsp
  • Butter, ½ stick
  • Garlic, 2 cloves, minced
  • Shallot, 1 lg, finely diced
  • Shrimp, uncooked, peeled and deveined, no tails, 1 pound of 21-30 count size
  • Sea Scallops, fresh, dried on paper towels well, 5 count
  • Kosher Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
  • Lemon Juice, 2 Tbsp fresh juice, and the zest of 1 lemon
  • Parsley, chopped, 2 Tbsp, and some for garnish
  • Baby Bella Mushrooms, cleaned & sliced, ¼ cup
  • Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, 1 ½ cups
  • Red Pepper Flakes, optional, 1-2 pinches
  • Cornstarch 1 Tbsp
  • Water 1/3 cup

Let’s Get Cooking:

Begin by preheating the oven to 500 degrees F.

Heat a pan on medium heat, and add 3 Tbsp veg. oil. Add the mushrooms and cook until lightly caramelized. Stir often until done. Once done, give a small pinch of salt and pepper to the cooked mushrooms, stir, remove from heat, set aside.

In another pan, heat a dry pan on medium-high heat, until very hot. Once hot, add 3 tbsp veg oil, swirl it around the pan to slightly coat the bottom, then place each of the 5 scallops in the pan. Give them a tiny sprinkle of salt/pepper and let them cook until very golden on one side, approx. 1-2 minutes. Then turn over each scallop and cook another 1-2 minutes until golden on the other side. Once done, remove from heat, and set aside.

In a large skillet, add the olive oil and butter to the pan and heat on medium until melted. Then add garlic, shallots, and optional red pepper flakes, and cook until shallots are translucent and gently cooked through.

Then add raw shrimp to the garlic/shallot pan, and give a sprinkling of salt/pepper.

Cook until shrimp become lightly pink, roughly 4-5 minutes total cook time. Be sure to turn the shrimp over to cook evenly on both sides. Once the shrimp are lightly pink, add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and parsley. Stir well, coating all the shrimp, and simmer one minute. Next, taste the sauce and adjust salt and seasonings to your taste preferences.

Mix together 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 1/3 c water in a cup, mix it well, then add it to the shrimp pan (you may not need all 1/3 cup of cornstarch slurry though. Try half, and if sauce becomes thick enough, then that’s plenty). Stir well, and simmer on medium high heat for 1-2 minutes until sauce thickens. Then remove from heat and set aside.

Take pizza dough out of the plastic wrap, and begin stretching it out carefully with your hands to form a large circle, ultimately fitting your 24” round pizza pan. Hold your hands out like you are turning a steering wheel, and stretch and turn the dough in a circular motion very gently until the right size for the pan. Place dough on pizza pan so it completely touches the edges all around.

Drizzle olive oil lightly on top of the raw dough.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese all over the dough, leaving clean edges for the crust.

Using a slotted spoon, add the shrimp evenly over the mozzarella, being sure to drain a lot of the lemon sauce from the shrimp. This is important so not to get a soggy pizza end result.  Use the sauce as a dip for the pizzahh crust when it’s all done.

Cut each scallop in half or quarters, and add evenly on the pizza.

Finish by sprinkling a little more mozzarella cheese on top.

Now it’s ready for the oven!

Bake at 500 degrees F for roughly 5 minutes. Watch it carefully because it could take a little longer or shorter depending on how hot your oven gets.

Once crispy and bubbly, remove pizzahh from oven, and garnish with parsley. Cut into 8 slices.

Grab forks and knives and your best china, because this is elegant enough to eat in your fancy dining room with candlelight and your favorite music blaring!

Enjoy!