The Sauce of the Devil

The title of this post is borderline too intense. Wouldn't you say? Let me explain. Last Saturday night I made a sauce just about as spicy as my taste buds could handle, a Fra Diavolo. I believe the literal translation in Italian is 'brother devil.' This unmistakable red sauce is known to pair well with seafood, particularly shellfish. Adam sauteed some Scallops and we served it over linguine.
If you're a regular reader you know by now I don't often create my own recipes or even veer to far off the beaten path when I follow one. You can call it a lack of faith in myself as a cook or a lack of creativity in the kitchen, but I tend to get the most enjoyment from cooking when I have steps to guide me. This meal was no exception. The step by step instructions for this dish can be found here. Ingredients and pictures can be found below.
-4-5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (Or to taste. Adam added a third.)
-8 ounces tomato sauce
-8 garlic cloves minced
-2 shallots minced
-8 ounces of tomatoes, diced (8 oz = 1/2 pound = about 2 tomatoes.)
-1 1/2 pounds of scallops.
And the rest of the ingredient list:
-1 cup dry white wine
-1/2 teaspoon of salt
-2 tablespoons fresh parsley
-2 tablespoons fresh basil
In the recipe I get a kick out of step #2: DO NOT BURN THE GARLIC -- If you do, Start Again. Yikes, way to scare the bejesus out of me. Most recipes aren't that harsh re: sauteing garlic, are they?! Obviously I'm not gonna burn my garlic! (I didn't for the record.)
Step #8 was thrown in there just for me: Meanwhile -- have a glass of wine and continue on. But what in the heck color is this wine? I was expecting white and I poured a very pale amber colored liquid.
It's a Bordeaux Blanc that has been chillin on my wine rack for quite sometime now. As I inhaled I noticed the sweet aroma right away, but the taste was rather dry with a tart finish.

I thought it worked well in the sauce.

The scallops get poured in at the very end, just 3-4 minutes prior to plating. This gives them a chance to embrace the heat from the sauce.
I bathed the Al Dente linguine in the chunky spicy red sauce.
And paired the hearty Italian dish with a salad of crisp greens, shredded carrots, goat cheese and loads of Avocado.
Adam had been seriously craving Scallops all week. I thought he did a great job pan searing the jumbo pearly white shellfish. They were slightly sweet and also plump and tender.
The sauce packs just the right amount of fiery kick to keep you coming back for more. And the best part? Leftovers for dinner last night.