This recipe is a variation on Quick-Braised Fish Filets in Tomato Sauce. It's great over pasta. Throw in a salad, you've got a special home cooked meal that doesn't take much time to prepare. You lightly dredge the scallops in flour, brown them quickly on each side over high heat.
Remove them from the pan and throw in some garlic and onions, then some white wine, then tomatoes (canned works well here). Or, you could do what I did, which is just dump in some pre-made tomato sauce. You could probably even get away with using a jar, though it's not much easier than just adding a can of crushed tomatoes. Once the sauce is hot, lower the heat a bit, return the scallops to the pan until just done (do NOT overcook them!). I garnished with green garlic, which is great if it's in season and you can find it. Otherwise, some parsley or scallion does the trick. That's it. Spoon some scallops and sauce over a bowl of pasta, and you have something super classy that took almost no time to make.
It was Mom's birthday yesterday, so I guess I better start planning another special dinner...
