My Beautiful Bivalve

Something about thin strands of pasta lightly coated with a fragrant, silky cream sauce creates the illusion that you could eat forever from a bottomless bowl and never get full. Unfortunately, too many cream sauces taste of little more than butter and cheese and leave you feeling unpleasantly full after a few bites.

This aromatic version owes its brightness to tangy lime juice, the sharp bite of tarragon and a subtly floral wine. Seared fresh sea scallops, just barely cooked through, are nearly ethereal in combination with a good cream sauce; both are at the same time delicate and rich, with an underlying sweetness.

With the addition of a sliced baguette, this is a simple and elegant one-dish meal that is well worth the indulgence in calories and fat. Slices of fresh tropical fruit--Mexican papaya, for instance--would make a light, sweet finale.

Menu (UNDER 30 MINUTES)

Linguine with Seared Scallops and Riesling Lime Cream

Baguette

Sliced Papayas

INGREDIENTS

Staples

Butter

Flour

Olive oil

Pepper

Salt

Shopping List

1 baguette

1 pint whipping cream

6 limes

1 pound dried linguine

2 Mexican papaya

1 1/2 pounds fresh sea scallops

3 shallots

1 bunch fresh tarragon

1 bottle dry Riesling or other dry white wine

CountDown

30 minutes before: Bring large pot of salted water to boil for pasta. Chop shallots and tarragon; juice limes. Salt and pepper scallops. Cut papaya for dessert and refrigerate to chill.

20 minutes before: Saute shallots; add flour and cook until thickened.

15 minutes before: Whisk in other sauce ingredients, simmer. Cook pasta.

10 minutes before: Sear scallops; toss pasta with sauce.

LINGUINE WITH SEARED SCALLOPS AND RIESLING LIME CREAM

RIESLING LIME CREAM

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons minced shallots

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

3/4 cup dry Riesling or other white wine

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt, pepper

ASSEMBLY

1 pound dried linguine

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 pounds fresh sea scallops

Salt, pepper

2 tablespoons chopped tarragon

RIESLING LIME CREAM

Melt butter in small skillet and saute shallots until soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook until slightly thickened. Whisk in lime juice, wine and cream. Simmer over low heat until sauce is reduced by about 1/3 or until just thick enough to coat back of a spoon. Season with sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

ASSEMBLY

Bring water to boil and cook linguine until just tender to the bite, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain and keep warm.

Heat skillet until very hot and add oil. Lightly season scallops with salt and pepper and sear in skillet until cooked through and opaque in center, 1 to 2 minutes on each side.

Toss linguine in Riesling Lime Cream, reserving about 1/4 cup of sauce. Divide linguine into 4 to 6 bowls. Arrange scallops on pasta and drizzle with reserved sauce. Garnish with chopped tarragon.

4 to 6 servings. Each of 6 servings:

604 calories; 303 mg sodium; 95 mg cholesterol; 25 grams fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 26 grams protein; 0.30 gram fiber.

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Short Cut

*Scallops require little cooking, just 1 to 2 minutes per side. Cooking them longer toughens the flesh and lessens their flavor.

*If you use a wide shallow pan to cook the sauce, it will reduce more quickly.

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Shortcuts

* Unlike the difficult-to-pit mango, papaya is an easy tropical fruit to serve when you’re pressed for time. Slice off the top and bottom, and stand the fruit on its larger end. Slice off the peel, cut the fruit in half and scoop out the seeds. If you like, squeeze a little lime juice over the fruit before serving.