Creamy Seafood Linguine

Spring break week. We drove down to St. George for four days, rented a house with a small pool, and let the kids decompress. It's the first family trip we've taken in almost two years — life had gotten full in all directions and travel kept getting pushed. Gary was the one who said, "We should just go. Stop waiting for a good time." He was right.

The rented house had a basic kitchen and I cooked anyway — breakfast every morning, easy dinners, a big pot of pasta one night that everyone ate on the back patio in the warm desert evening. You can take me anywhere and I'll find the kitchen. It's not compulsive anymore, it's just true. Cooking is how I'm present wherever I am.

Ethan swam with his siblings all four days, which is a gift I didn't expect — at sixteen, swimming with his little brother felt like it could have been beneath him but he was completely in it, racing Noah and letting Noah win sometimes and not always. Mason read by the pool with the specific dedication of a kid who also has his mother's make-the-most-of-it gene. Olivia worked on her tan and tried to get good photos for her school project and also jumped off the diving board about forty times.

Gary and I sat by the pool Thursday afternoon while all four kids were in the water and didn't say much, just watched them. He reached over and took my hand. That's the whole paragraph. Sometimes the marriage is just a hand reaching over in the afternoon sun.

That big pot of pasta I mentioned — this was it. Creamy Seafood Linguine, made in a rental kitchen with a pan I had to search three cabinets to find, and it was absolutely perfect. There’s something about cooking somewhere unfamiliar that strips everything down to what actually matters, and what mattered that night was getting a warm, generous dinner on the table so we could all sit outside together in the last of the desert heat. This is the recipe I reach for when I want the food to feel like an occasion without requiring me to be an occasion about it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4–6

Ingredients

12 oz linguine
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 oz sea scallops, patted dry and halved if large
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup seafood or chicken broth
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook linguine according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining, then set pasta aside.
Sear the seafood. Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season shrimp and scallops with salt and pepper. Add shrimp in a single layer and cook 1–2 minutes per side until pink; remove and set aside. Sear scallops 2 minutes per side until golden; remove and set aside with shrimp.
Build the sauce. Reduce heat to medium. Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in the same skillet. Add garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant. Pour in white wine and simmer 2–3 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the pan.
Add the cream. Stir in heavy cream and broth. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 4–5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken slightly. Add Parmesan, lemon juice, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes if using. Stir until cheese is fully melted and the sauce is smooth.
Combine and finish. Add the drained linguine to the skillet and toss to coat, adding splashes of reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce. Return the shrimp and scallops to the pan and gently fold everything together. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve. Plate immediately and top with fresh parsley and extra Parmesan. Best eaten outside, if you can manage it.

Nutrition (per serving)

Creamy Seafood Linguine — The Pasta We Ate on the Patio Under Desert Stars