About 10 years ago, I would occasionally go to an Italian chain restaurant for dinner near my house in South Carolina. I would get the same thing every time I went: bow tie pasta drenched in cream and butter and topped with tons of salmon lox, capers and freshly grated Romano cheese. Although it was kind of fantastic at the time, I can’t imagine consuming those ingredients any more.
Last night, I randomly recalled this dish and decided to whip up something similar, but decided to use sliced king oyster stems in place of the salmon and a bit of coconut cream to replicate the richness and creaminess of the sauce. This was a cinch to throw together in about 45 minutes, making it a perfect weeknight dinner. It is pretty, simple, smells amazing and tastes heavenly.
VEGAN SCALLOPS IN A WHITE WINE CREAM SAUCE OVER PASTA
- Yield: 2 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 cups bow tie pasta
- 2 TB Earth Balance, divided
- 4–5 shallots, minced (about one cup)
- a few pinches of salt
- 4–5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 2/3 cup vegetable broth
- 1 TB canned coconut milk (skim the cream off the top of the can)
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped and divided
- 1 TB fresh lemon zest, divided
- 4–5 king oyster mushroom stems, sliced and soaked in warm water for 30 minutes to an hour
- 1–2 TB capers
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil, then add some olive oil and salt and cook pasta according to package instructions.
- While the pasta is cooking, make your sauce. Melt one tablespoon of Earth Balance in a skillet over medium heat, then add in the minced shallot and sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, then stir to coat and saute for about 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for about 2 minutes more. Increase the heat to high. After about a minute, pour in the wine white and allow to sizzle for about 30 seconds. Dial the heat back to medium, then add in the broth. Allow to simmer and reduce for a few minutes. Add in the coconut cream and stir to combine, then add in half of the fresh parsley and half of the lemon zest.
- By this time, your pasta should be done. Using a slotted spoon or skimmer, drain and transfer the cooked pasta straight from the pot by spoonfuls into the sauce. Stir to combine. Let simmer under the lowest heat possible while you prepare your scallops.
- In a separate skillet, melt the remaining tablespoon of Earth Balance over medium heat. Remove the mushrooms from the water (no need to dry them), then add them to the skillet and cover. Allow them soften for about 7 minutes. Remove the lid and allow the liquid to evaporate. As it does, the mushrooms will develop a slight caramelized color. Once that golden color is achieved on both sides, remove them from the heat. Add them to the skillet with the pasta and sauce, and toss to coat.
- Transfer the pasta to serving bowls and sprinkle with the leftover fresh parsley, lemon zest and capers. Sprinkle with a little fresh cracked pepper and serve immediately.
- Category: Vegan Seafood
foodfeud says
This sounds delicious. after I first went vegan my mom bought me just about every vegan good she could find, including canned vegan scallops. I like that more people are using mushrooms as a chewy seafood sub. I do love capers, though. They lend the perfect briney taste!
erinwyso says
Thank you! Your mom sounds amazing, and I wonder what canned vegan scallops are made of?! I've never heard of these!
adriennefriend says
Mostly just vital wheat gluten! They sell them at the International Market where I live. I'd much rather use king oyster mushrooms!
vegan.in.brighton says
Wow, that looks seriously amazing. I really wish I had a plate of this in front of me right now.
erinwyso says
Thanks Jojo! : )
VeggieAmanda says
I think I need to find king mushrooms! I've never seen them before, but I have to try a GF version of this dish!!
LittleMonsterx14 says
this is so interesting! you come up with the most amazing things!
Caitlin says
bow tie pasta was my all time favorite pasta growing up. it made me feel fancy eating it. this pasta dish looks so delicious and i love the king oyster mushrooms and light cream sauce. so light and healthy…and fancy!
adriennefriend says
Yay! I love using king oyster mushrooms for anything, but they're so lovely as vegan "scallops"! Great quick recipe.
Vegenista says
This looks decadent & delicious! While I've never had a seafood scallop, your oyster mushroom version has me intrigued!
christine says
this dish looks lovely, fresh and light – I'll try with GF pasta:)
Angry Asian says
i must confess that i typically throw the stems of any mushrooms into my freezer bag of chicken bones & scrapes, to be made into stock. it rarely ever occurs to me to actually consume the stems! this pasta dish makes me rethink that.
Andy says
The way you put together these vegan recipes is so inspiring! This looks wonderful.
Fanny says
FANCY! Also, that's my favorite pasta shape.
gabrielle cimon says
Amazing! Where do you get your inspirations? Vegan Scallops with King Oyster Mushroom is a super idea!
erinwyso says
Thanks gabrielle! I got the idea for the mushrooms from a Tal Ronnen cookbook, and this dish was sort of inspired from a dish I haven't had in years. I just love food and am always putting together combinations in my head.
Freya says
Seriously, when is your book coming out? We need a book!!!
erinwyso says
*blush* thanks Freya! Maybe someday! : )
Stubbs says
Love this idea! So clever!!
Johanna says
I made this, and my dinner partner said that it was one the best things that he has ever eaten. I did, however, find that I had so much liquid in the mushrooms that I gave up on the browning step. I can't wait to make this again. oxoxo, from Vermont.
erinwyso says
I am so glad to hear that, Jojo! Thanks so much for making it, and for your generous feedback! I have found that sometimes these mushrooms brown quickly while others tend to stay really soft — perhaps this type of mushroom varies alot in texture? Again, I'm thrilled that you made it and liked it!! : )
Daphne Medina says
um, yeah…I made this…I can only say that IT. IS. SO. DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your food is so sophisticated and yet approachable. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. My family thought they were actual scallops. HA!
Thank you for the recipe! 🙂
erinwyso says
Thanks Daphne, I'm so glad you liked it and it was a hit with your family! It is eerie how similar these scallops taste to the real thing, in look, taste and texture, isn't it?
Thanks for your very generous feedback! : )
Mattheworbit says
That looks pretty darn delicious! I've been meaning to try mushroom scallops for a while, thanks!
Leila A. Fortier says
Erin, you have outdone yourself once again! I have yet to go wrong with any of your recipes. You seriously need your own cookbook or vegan culinary show! I am not even joking. The more I try your creations…the more I lean toward vegan quisine, and the more all other foods and recipes taste inferior beside your elegant innovations. Like your vegan scallops wrapped in bacon…I swear, you could serve any of these "scallop" dishes off to carnivorous friends and family- and they would never guess it was not the real thing. Once again, I erred and tried to make "vegan red velvet pancakes" for brunch for my family thias weekend. Yet another EPIC disaster. I was so updet, that I came back to your page to find a new recipe…drove 45 minutes to shop for ingredients, and had dinner ready at 8:45 pm. But I just has to redeem myself from the earlier disaster. Now…sitting here after my second helping and a glass of white wine…sheer bliss. Your food is poetry.
erinwyso says
Thank you so much for another very nice comment, Leila! It's my *dream* to one day cook/blog for a living, so to hear that makes me very happy and gives me hope! I love that the recipes are working so well for you, and kudos to you as well for cooking them so artfully to you and your family's delight!
Carrie Farias says
Good morning, I have featured this recipe on my blog for my weekly seafood round-up and have also linked this recipe to your original post so that my readers will be forwarded to your site. Thank you for allowing me to share and have a wonderful weekend. Here is the link: http://carriesexperimentalkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/03/seafood-frenzy-friday-week-50-giveaway.html
erinwyso says
Thanks Carrie!
thejollyfox.com says
Thank you for introducing using the idea of mushroom stems for scallops, it's honestly just brilliant. I had been using a small round cookie cutter to cut tofu into scallop shapes. I did a version wrapped in vegan bacon before I saw your recipe. Your recipe is way, way better! The mushrooms are much closer to scallops than tofu and I find that they also absorb more flavor. Anyhow, I just used some in place of scallops today and felt I needed to mosey over here to say thank you!
erinwyso says
Glad you enjoyed! These scallops are a tip I learned from reading Tal Ronnen's cookbook, The Conscious Cook. (Which I realized I mentioned in another post, but not this one.) I love these too!
Erin Salisbury says
From the moment I found this site, I knew I had struck gold. And my name is Erin, and I live in SC too! Great looking recipe!
erinwyso says
Thanks Erin! Erin (ha!)
Yanic A. says
Sounds amazing!
If I can't cook with white wine, what would be a good sub?
erinwyso says
Yanic, you can just deglaze the pan with a little white grape juice or leave it out altogether — enjoy!
Jenny says
I made this tonight. Absolutely delicious! Didn’t have any capers, they would have added a nice extra acidity or tang but even without it was absolutely amazing. If my photos turn out OK, I’ll definitely mention this recipe on my blog and link to you, of course.
erinwyso says
So happy you enjoyed, Jenny … thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Stella says
Great idea, beautiful recipe. But,
I used whole wheat farfalle and the sauce was not nearly enough to coat and flavor 2 cups of dry pasta.
So, either you meant 2 cups of boiled pasta, which I would suggest specifying, or I reduced the sauce more than was supposed to (again, I didn’t have much information on how much I should reduce and I used my general pasta sauce making knowledge) or the sauce really needs double the ingredients for those 2 cups of dry pasta.
Thank you very much, I’ll try to make this again with more sauce because I’m sure it’s gonna taste great.
Ariana says
Hey there! I know this is a really old post, but hoping for some feedback. I just tried making this recipe tonight, but the “sauce” came out really really watery. I followed all the instructions, including letting the wine + vegetable broth reduce for a few minutes. However, in the end, it still ended up much more like a thin soup broth than a sauce. I did triple the recipe, so I’m thinking that the larger quantity of liquid in a standard skillet may have meant that there was a lot less contact between hot surface + liquid, so perhaps that’s why I ended up with more liquid in the end? Could you give me any advice on what your sauce looked like as you cooked it, and at the end? Where was it on a thickness spectrum from say, alfredo sauce to broth? And did you ever try tripling the recipe? Thank you!
erinwyso says
Hi Ariana, yes, tripling the sauce ingredients probably involves increasing cook times and tweaking a few other things. I can’t give a definitive answer as it’s been years since I made this, but cooking down until you reach the desired thickness is another option to try. Sorry it was too thin, hope it turns out better if you try it again!
CallaK says
Light and comforting. I love the bright notes. I thought I would be able to get the mushrooms past the kids. I did not, but capers and onions for the win! That is a major victory for picky young kids. I did thicken the sauce slightly, but I’m sure it would have worked well the way it was written. Everything Erin makes it beautiful and tasty!
★★★★★