When Mike Ek saw seafood as a mandatory ingredient, he was a little nervous. “While I love seafood, I am Chicago born and raised and cooking seafood is not in our skill set. I was thrilled to learn it was scallops, though, because they’re my favorite.” Ek liked the contrast between sea scallops’ sweet creaminess, the earthy portobello mushrooms and herbaceous rosemary. “Spaghetti squash, like pasta, is a blank canvas, and would work well as a base, and I brought all together with a bright citrus and a little saltiness.”

With the protein and vegetable set, Ek felt a starch like risotto would complement, and he added pieces of meaty, crispy pancetta for a zap of saltiness. He uses fresh herbs often, from his wife’s potted herb garden, but he knew rosemary could present a texture problem. “When roasting a chicken or grilling a rib-eye, it’s all good,” he explained, “but, with soft textured foods like scallops and squash, it can be a problem, so, I used rosemary in oil, sprigs in my sauté, and ?nely chopped. I used it three ways, kind of like a pitcher who uses his fastball, curveball and changeup.”

There was one foul ball in the kitchen when the shallots and garlic burned when sautéing the mushrooms (“Boy, is that a hard smell to get out of the kitchen”). He was delighted that he succeeded in ?avoring the naturally bland spaghetti squash, and he deemed the risotto “absolutely spot on.” Ek’s tasters agreed loving bites of pancetta in the risotto, recognizing a hint of rosemary and enjoying the ?nished scallops together with the squash.

Ek loved the challenge and was aware of his creative blossoming over the week. “It was fun, except for cleaning the kitchen.”