Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

My husband and I recently returned home from one of my favorite cities-- Chicago. While we were there we ate at the Italian Village, which is downtown in the Loop. I have wanted to try this restaurant for awhile. The Italian Village is not just one restaurant, but three restaurants in one location. The top floor is traditional style Italian, the main floor is contemporary Italian and the Cellar is more seafood oriented. After perusing the menus that were hanging in the lobby numerous times and my starving husband saying "just pick one", I finally did! The seafood restaurant was the winner and a great choice! I choose the "tortellini con frutta del Mare". This dish was so flavorful and wonderful. I tried to figure out what the ingredients were in it and came up with this recipe. I think it's pretty close.

Ingredients

• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato pasta sauce (I prefer Dei Fratelli, which is found in some groceries and Italian specialty markets)
  
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 (8 ounce) package angel hair pasta
• 1/8 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• handful of raw shrimp
• handful of raw baby scallops
  

Directions

1. In a large saucepan combine pasta sauce, half and half, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Simmer over low heat for 45 to 50 minutes; do not boil.
2. Right before serving, toss the shrimp and scallops and cook until they turn opaque--this only takes a couple of minutes, so watch carefully so you don't overcook the seafood.
   
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or to your taste, drain.
4. Toss pasta with sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Although my dinner at La Cantina had freshly made tortellini (yum!), I opted for (Barelli's) angel hair, because it is my husband's favorite and to be honest I have never made homemade pasta. This could be used with any pasta, but I thought the angel hair had better presentation with seafood than say spiral or penne.

MY TIP: My husband is not a huge seafood lover like me, so you can make the sauce to the point of adding the seafood. And if you love seafood like me, you can quickly add it at the end since it only takes a few extra minutes to cook the seafood. Like most sauces, this is even better the next day.