• Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
• Add shallot, garlic, onion, carrot, celery, and mushrooms.
• Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute.
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
• Stir in the tomato and tomato paste, cooking for another 2 minutes.
• Add the wine, broth, bay leaf, and thyme.
• Bring to a boil and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for approximately 30 minutes.
• Let the mixture cool slightly, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a small saucepan, pressing with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.
• Discard the solids.
• Stir in the pomegranate juice, bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and syrupy, reduced to about ⅓ cup.
• Reserve in a small tightly covered jar.

Cook the Scallops:

• Wrap a piece of bacon around each scallop.
• Brush a stovetop griddle with olive oil and heat to the smoking point over high heat.
• Add the scallops, seam of the bacon down, reduce the heat to medium-high, and cook until the seam side of the bacon is browned.
• Turn and cook until scallops are white and opaque on the inside and the bacon is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes more.

Serve:

• On individual plates, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the pomegranate sauce onto each plate.
• Place 2 scallops on the sauce and garnish with pomegranate seeds, if using.
• Season with salt and serve hot.