Ravioli without a roller experiment with seared scallops

Scenario : Romantic dinner for dos, pound of fresh mexican scallops, and a strong desire to make something remarkable. Also, love making my cat jealous.

Result : Something romantic, that needs serious honing. And the acquisition of a pasta roller. And losing half of the bacon fat to greedy cat.

What would I do differently to make this experiment more successful next time?
1. Pasta roller so the dough isn't so... thick
2. Leave the peas out of the ravioli and put only on top of dish
3. Slice scallops into thinner rounds
4. Omit brown butter sauce

Bacon, sweet pea, and goat cheese ravioli with thyme and bacon seared scallops
Serves about 10 people portions of 4 ravioli. Or, for us, 2 people 3 portions each until sick of leftovers, and then 4 portions to my garbage disposal

• Can sweet peas
• 4-5 slices thick cut bacon
• 11oz goat cheese (non seasoned)
• Leaves from several sprigs of fresh thyme
• Fresh diver scallops
• 1 Tbsp salted butter 
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups semolina flour
• Truffle oil (as if I could ever not use this)

Cook bacon until quite crispy, but not burnt. Reserve fat for searing scallops.

Prepare pasta dough by mixing eggs, salt, pepper, and semolina. Allow to sit for a good 20-30 minutes in the fridge before using. Roll dough in a roller, if you're not me. If you ARE me, roll it on the table with a rolling pin. You want the dough pretty thin, but not overly so. Otherwise it will rip when you fill your ravioli.

Fill ravioli with bacon, goat cheese, thyme, and peas. Or not peas if you're smarter than I am. Which you are, if you're reading this.

Wash scallops well, and pat dry. Having the flesh dry is a must for getting a good sear. Trying to sear something that is wet will lead to overcooked seafood with no crispy exterior. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the scallops relatively liberally, as a lot of it will end up falling off as you sear them.

Into a pan of hot bacon fat, over about 300 degree heat (sorry, I used an electric griddle), place each scallop flat side down. I like to take my finger and push the scallop in a circle in the fat to ensure coverage on the bottom, but that's really up to you. Cook about 2 minutes on each side, or until scallop has gone from a clearish color to a more opaque, and has nice caramel color on the sear.

Plate it up all pretty, light some candles, and chomp away!

Photos by Ben : heliotrope.ucsd.edu