Submitted by Jeremy Pietropaolo

About the cook: While I am still in school, I love to cook all the time. I am constantly taking the information I learn from cookbooks, cooking shows, etc, and trying to incorporate them into my cooking.

About the dish: This dish features a slightly spicy roasted corn, edamame, sweet potato, and pancetta succotash alongside pan-seared scallops and an edamame purée. It is a dish that is both simple to make, yet is impressive to all. My favorite thing about this dish is that it is light, but filling, and extremely delicous.

National Origin: Southern

Serves: 2

Estimated Time: 30 to 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

12 large scallops
2 ears of corn
7 oz of frozen edamame
¾ of sweet potato (cut into small cubes)
4 tbs of canola oil
1 tbs of hot Hungarian paprika
7 oz of pancetta (cut into large cubes)
1.5 tbs of butter
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over medium heat and heat a grill or grill pan to about 500ºF

2. Toss the corn with 2 tbs of canola oil, coating completely. Then sprinkle the paprika, some salt, and pepper over the corn, once again coating completely. Once the grill is hot enough, place the corn on the grill and rotate every 2-3 minutes, allowing a hefty char to form.

3. Meanwhile, when the water in the pot comes to a boil, add 2 tbs of salt and bring back up to a boil, dropping in the frozen edamame.

4. After about 5-7 minutes, when the edamame still has a slight bite to it, remove 3 oz of the edamame and set aside for later use. Continue to cook the remaining 4oz of edamame for 4-5 more minutes, then remove from the water—do not discard the water. Use the 4oz of longer cooked edamame to create a pureé.

5. To make the pureé, blend together the butter, 2-3 tbs of the blanching water, and the 4oz of edamame until smooth

6. In the same water as the edamame was cooked in, blanch the cubed sweet potato, cooking until tender.

7. While the sweet potato cooks, render the cubed pancetta, starting with a nonheated medium satué pan, until nice and crispy. Then remove from the pan and discard the liquid fat—do not clean the pan, the residue of the pancetta on the bottom of the pan will enhance the flavor of the succotash.

8. Once the corn is done, cut the kernels from the cob and place into the pan used to cook the pancetta. Also add back in the pancetta, 3oz of edamame, and sweet potato. Stir to combine only applying enough heat to warm the mixture.

9. While the succotash is being finished, heat a large non-stick pan on very high heat. Once the pureé and succotash are ready, add about 2 tbs of canola oil into the pan and let the oil heat until almost smoking. Season the scallops, on each side, with a pinch of salt and place into the pan. Cook for about 1 minutes and then flip each scallop, making sure there is a nice sear before flipping. Cook for about 1 minute more and remove the scallops from the pan.

10. To plate, place the scallops on a bed of succotash with a smear of the pureé next to it. Finally, enjoy!

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