Seafood Orecchiette with a Lemony Cream Sauce

So I'm not much of a seafood person, unless it's battered and deep fried, then I'm totally okay with it.  I don't really like the "seafoody" taste, but then I read that if it tastes "seafoody," then it's really not fresh.  That's why I could eat anything from the ocean in Hawaii, because it was always fresh.  Well, finding fresh seafood in Cincinnati is nearly impossible so I decided to go out on a whim and buy a bag of frozen mixed seafood from Trader Joe's.  It had shrimp, calamari, and scallops, pretty intimidating for a non-seafood eating person.  I gave it a shot though and it actually turned quite delicious!  I read some complaints online that the bag of frozen seafood from Trader Joe's doesn't have much flavor, but that's probably why I liked it so much.  I tasted the nice lemony flavor and the wine... mmmm... but if you're in to the seafood flavor, I'd just substitute the vegetable stock for fish stock.  Enjoy!

Seafood Orecchiette with Lemon Cream Sauce

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 package of Orecchiette Pasta (I got one from Trader Joe's)

1 package of raw Seafood blend from Trader Joe's

1 tbs butter

1 tbs rice flour (or regular flour, but I like rice flour better as a thickener)

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 shallot, chopped

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 lemon zested and juiced

6 chives, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

cooking oil of choice

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it and add the Orecchiette pasta and boil for about 12 minutes, until almost done. 

Rinse the frozen seafood under cool water for about 2 minutes until mostly defrosted.  Pat with a paper towel to dry.  In a large saute pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of cooking oil (I used coconut oil) add the seafood and cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently, until all the seafood is cooked.  Transfer to plate.

In the same saucepan, saute the garlic and shallot in some oil until softened, about 2 minutes add butter.  When it is melted, add rice flour and whisk until foamy, about a minute.  Gradually add white wine and vegetable stock.  Whisk continuously until slightly thickened.  Gradually add the cream and bring to a slight boil.  Turn town heat and wait until it thickens. Towards the end, add the lemon zest & juice and chives.  Salt and pepper to taste.