There’s no better excuse for a decadent menu than Sunday evening and no time more relaxing to cook than the weekend’s tail end. Tonight I opted to put some fresh scallops to good use atop pasta in a creamy white wine sauce alongside a simple salad and wildly rich cheesecake.

If you live in Atlanta, you will be familiar with Storico Fresco’s irresistible Mista Salad which is a symphony of mixed greens, Roman cipollini (the most delicious little onions in balsamic glaze), artichoke, almonds, and honey vinaigrette. We always bring a salad home when we grab lasagna from their take away stall but since I was making the meal tonight, I decided to recreate it at home. It turned out pretty well, all it was missing was the cipollini!

The main attraction was ribbons of thin pasta shimmering in a cream-based white wine and garlic sauce. This is very easy to make and thickens like a dream. Scallops created the perfect high summer accompaniment, each seared to a golden outer crisp in a cast iron skillet. Fresh parmesan and Italian parsley seal the deal.

For dessert, I tried out Wynfield Plantation Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Cheesepie which is a recipe from an old spiral bound cookbook of my grandmother’s. It’s not exactly a beautiful dessert so I didn’t snap a photo but it is very delicious and especially popular with children and husbands. Serve chilled for the ultimate sweet indulgence!

Mista Salad

• Mixed Greens
• Artichoke hearts, quartered
• Almonds, sliced or slivered
• Parmesan

Dressing

• 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
• 1 TBSP honey
• 1 TSP Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

• Assemble salads individually.
• Combine all dressing ingredients in jar and shake well or add to a small bowl and whisk. Season to taste and dress salad.

Scallop Pasta in White Wine Cream Sauce

• 1 lb of your favorite pasta (linguine, tagliatelle, spaghetti)
• 1 lb scallops, thawed if frozen and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 TBSP olive oil

• Boil pasta according to package directions until al dente, drain and set aside.
• Add 2 TBSP of olive oil to a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Wait until oil is shimmering and rolls smoothly around pan, add scallops in two batches to avoid overcrowding. Sear for 4 minutes without moving, then flip all scallops and continue to sear on the next side for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove immediately and place on a plate, set aside.

White Wine Cream Sauce

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP butter
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of white wine (Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• Quarter or half of one lemon, ready to squeeze
• Salt and pepper to taste

• In a saucepan over medium heat, stir in olive oil, butter and garlic and cook for about 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
• Add white wine and bring to a boil, continuing to boil until the liquid reduces to about half. This may take several minutes.
• Introduce heavy cream and parmesan, bringing to a boil once more and immediately reducing to a simmer. Continue to stir while simmering for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens nicely.
• Remove from heat and squeeze in the lemon juice.
• Combine with pasta and scallops, garnish with salt, pepper, and Italian parsley.

Wynfield Plantation Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Cheesepie

Chocolate Crust

• 2 1/2 cups crushed chocolate sandwich cookies with filling (I used Whole Foods 365 chocolate sandwich cookies with chocolate filling)
• 5 TBSP butter, melted

Filling

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 TSP vanilla

Cookie Dough

• 2 TBSP butter, softened
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 TBSP water
• 1/4 TSP vanilla
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips

• For Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely grind cookies, including filling, in food processor. Combine with melted butter and press into bottom and up sides of a pie plate.
• For Filling: Place cream cheese and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Blend in sour cream, egg and vanilla. Pour into prepared crust.
• For Cookie Dough: Beat butter and brown sugar in a small mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add flour, water and vanilla and beat until blended. Stir in chocolate.
• Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls evenly onto cream cheese mixture. Bake until almost set in center, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate, serve chilled.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, do let me know if you give any of these recipes a try soon. Bon appétit!

Featured dishes: My favorite cabbage ware and .