This easy and elegant recipe for scallop tomato pasta is fully of the rich flavors of seafood and vegetables, all in a creamy dreamy light sauce. A speedy and elegant scallop pasta recipe!
Jump to:
Why we love this recipe
When it comes to seafood, shrimp is one of my very favorites. I just counted and there are over fifty shrimp recipes on this site — and probably three times that number in my recipe idea notebooks.
The Southern husband’s favorite seafood is definitely scallops. And right now there are, um, about ten scallop recipes in the blog archives. The shrimp have the scallops outnumbered 5 to one. So it only seemed fair that I up my scallop game with this dreamy, creamy recipe for seared scallops with tomato cream sauce.
Ready to fancy up your scallops? Let’s make it!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
How to make this recipe
For this recipe you need those big sea scallops, not the little teeny bay scallops. You don’t need that many because they are being combined with a nice filling bed of pasta. (That noise you hear in the background is the Southern husband saying “Yes you DO need that many! More scallops for everyone!!!) But honestly, about three to four scallops per serving will do you just fine.
This comes with a lovely light sauce, and you’ll see that the directions say to mix up the sauce with the linguine before you add in the scallops. This is Very Important Information, because that means each and every linguine strand will be nicely coated with your delicious sauce before you pop the seared scallops on top.
Now, the key to good seared scallops is to get your pan nice and hot, pop them in there and then DO NOT TOUCH THEM for the 2 minutes they are searing on each side. That way they develop that nice dark brown seared bit all over.
Equipment we used for this recipe
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
- Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
- Tongs: We have this essential kitchen tool in all sizes from short to extra long.
- Fish Spatula: It’s not just for fish (although we love it for Julia Child’s Filet of Sole)…it’s thin enough to scoot under anything you want to flip! Including these scallops.
- Large Skillet: We have a drawer full of these, but this one is our fave.
So there you have it. I’ll let you know when I’ve worked up enough scallop recipes to make it a fair fight with the shrimp!
What to serve with this recipe
We love to add a few more veggies on the side of this delectable scallop recipe, and this Zucchini Carpaccio is always on the top of our list, along with these Parmesan Breadcrumb Asparagus! Some grilled flatbread is great with any pasta dish, and for dessert? Bring on the Blueberry Boy Bait!
Other scallop recipes we love!
We want to know what you think! 🤔
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe.
PrintScallop Tomato Pasta
This easy and elegant recipe for seared scallops with tomato cream sauce is fully of the rich flavors of seafood and vegetables, all in a dreamy light sauce. A perfect company dinner!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 ounces linguine
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup minced shallots
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon cold butter, cut into pieces
- 2 chopped plum tomatoes
- Pinch each of salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 large sea scallops
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook linguine according to package directions in heavily salted water, drain and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, put wine and shallots in a medium skillet and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add cream and butter, stirring until butter melts. Add tomato with a pinch of salt and pepper and stir. Add linguine, toss, turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep warm while you cook the scallops.
- Add the olive oil to a large nonstick skillet and heat over high heat. Pat scallops dry and and to the pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side, without moving them so you get a nice sear.
- Add scallops to pasta mixture; toss gently to combine. Divide among plates and garnish with parsley.
Sharon says
This sauce was watery and had no taste. I ended up adding lemon, sun dried tomatoes, garlic powder and a slurry to thicken it.
Oh no – even with the cream and the wine and the butter? At any rate, I’m glad you were able to customize it to your taste. :)
Lynnie Watkins Snop says
I can’t wait to make this scallop recipe because not only is it going to be another of your sublime culinary creations, you also solved my scallops’ yucky issue by specifying DRY scallops. Who knew?! I’ll let you know how it goes after my next visit to the OKC fish market. I’m “Like # 5970”, and I can’t tell you how often I’m now relying on you for quick + flavorful go-to meals. Thanks a million!
Lynnie! I love this, and can’t wait to hear how this recipe turns out for you. :)
Stella says
This looks fabulous! Casual and fancy all at the same time!!
I know!! My favorite kind of recipe. :)