This combination of real cream, fresh basil, and tomatoes, makes for a melt-in-your-mouth pasta dish that feeds a crowd.  If you are lucky enough to live in a city, with access to good, fresh seafood, this dish is unbeatable.  Living here in Podunk, I had to use frozen shrimp and bay scallops, but I do have fresh basil in my back yard, and this week our grocery store even carried linguine and canned tomatoes!  I didn’t figure it would be great without all fresh ingredients, but even with frozen seafood, this dish was excellent!  As soon as I can get to Joe Patti’s Seafood in downtown Pensacola, I intend to make this again.  As a best friend used to say, “This’ll make your tongue slap out your brains!”

Prep Time:     20 minutes

Serves:     8 very hungry people

(Recipe from The Pioneer Woman)

Sauce:

• 1 pound linguine
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Three 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes (I used the chunkier kind)
• salt and pepper
• red pepper flakes

Seafood:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound scallops

To Serve:

• Warm cream
• fresh basil leaves, torn

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the pasta for half the recommended time. The pasta should still be VERY firm.  In a skillet cook the garlic in the butter and olive oil for a few minutes, and then pour in the wine.  Allow this to reduce for a couple of minutes, and then pour in the tomatoes.  Stir the mixture together, season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and allow to cook for 10 minutes.  In a separate skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Sear the scallops, then the shrimp, until they’re nice and black/brown.  Meanwhile, grab 2 large sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil and overlap them in a dish with some depth (I used a lasagna dish).  Mix the drained pasta with the sauce and tip it onto the foil.  Then arrange the sautéed seafood on top.  Tightly wrap the foil into a package.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and keep warm until serving.  To serve, open the foil package and plate the dish.  Pour about a tablespoon of warm, whole cream over each serving and garnish with torn basil.