Was reading thru Barbara Lynch's book Stir yesterday when I saw a recipe for Shrimp Polpettone and pasta with a sauce made from canned white beans. I loved the look and idea of this easy, quick, flavorful sauce and already had some scallops on hand, so I borrowed the sauce component for my dish. We absolutely loved this; it would be entirely glorious on its own or adaptable to almost any seafood. It would go very well with vegetables as a main dish, too (roasted cauliflower? Yum!). Here it is with seared scallops last night:
For two-three servings:
1 can white beans rinsed and drained
2 tblsp finely diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, or a bit more
1 tsp chopped fresh sage, or a bit more
1 cup water
lemon zest
parmesan (optional)
Olive oil x 2
In a small pan sweat the onions and garlic in olive oil until transluscent, about five minutes. Stir in the herbs and add the beans and water, simmer for another five minutes. Process half the beans and liquid in a food processor and return to the pan along with the lemon zest. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook and drain pasta, retaining about half a cup of pasta cooking liquid to loosen or extend the sauce if needed. I went with lasagna noodles broken into about 2" pieces. Paparadelle would be nice too--something wide, flat and smooth. I finished the dish with a drizzle of condiment-level olive oil and some parmesan cheese. Yes I know I know, Italians don't put parm on seafood but I have to tell you that in combination with the lemon juice and olive oil, it was a great finishing touch.
Btw, I served a 2018 Foradori Mazzoni Bianco from the Dolomite region of Italy. It was one of those stratospheric matches: food 100, wine 100, but in combination: 300.