Carbonara with Pan Seared Scallops
Carbonara with Pan Seared Scallops is a gourmet recipe that can be prepared in under 30 minutes! Perfectly seared scallops served with pasta tossed in a creamy carbonara sauce.
This is a quick and easy recipe with amazing gourmet flavor. An all-time family favorite recipe! The entire dish can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes. An easy gourmet meal that you would be proud to serve to company or make for those special occasion dinners, yet a simple seafood recipe for weekday dinners.
I finally did it, tackled my fear of cooking scallops. I’ve been watching Hells Kitchen for several seasons now and watching Gordon Ramsay throw countless hysterics over scallops. By following these steps, you’ll get beautifully seared scallops with a crispy exterior and a perfectly cooked interior.
Preparing the Carbonara
As the scallops cook quickly I prepare the carbonara first. Start by cooking the pasta as per package instructions.
In large skillet cook the bacon until crisp, add shallots, garlic and 1/2 of the green onions.
In small bowl mix together the cream, egg yolks and 3/4 of the parmesan cheese.
When pasta is finished cooking, drain well, then add to the skillet of bacon mixture.
Add the cream mixture to the pasta and toss to combine. Make sure pasta is still hot in order to cook the eggs and melt the cheese.
Plate the carbonara, top with the scallops, green onions, parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.
How to cook perfectly seared scallops
The key to cooking scallops is avoid overcooking them or they can become tough, rubbery, and dry. Do not overcrowd the pan, use medium-high heat, searing for 2-3 minutes without moving them around in the pan. I find a non-stick frying pan works well for cooking scallops.
Use only fresh scallops! Pat the scallops dry with paper towel to remove any excess moisture. This is crucial for achieving a crispy sear. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Make sure the frying pan is hot before adding scallops but not smoking. Sear one side of the scallops, flip, then add butter, spooning over the scallops while they complete cooking.
How to know when scallops are done?
- They will have a golden-brown crust. If they have a nice sear and the crust is golden (not burned), they are likely done.
- On medium-high heat, scallops generally take 2-3 minutes per side to cook.
- Perfectly cooked scallops turn opaque in the center.
More Pasta recipes you will love!
Seafood, chicken, or sausage when combined with a creamy pasta sauce makes for an exceptional meal!
Carbonara with Pan Seared Scallops
Ingredients
Pasta Carbonara
- 14 oz (400g) Linguine or pasta of your choice
- 8 slices thick cut bacon diced, try to find bacon with less fat, or cut away excess fat
- 1 shallot finely sliced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 4 green onions chopped
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup parmigiano reggiano grated, 3/4 cup for sauce, 1/4 cup for garnish
Pan Seared Scallops
- 16 large scallops 3-4 per person
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
Instructions
Prepared Pasta Carbonara
- Prepare the pasta as per package instructions.
- In a large skillet saute the bacon until crisp, add the shallots and of the 1/2 green onions and garlic. Cook until shallots are softened.
- In small bowl or large measuring cup, stir together the cream, egg yolks and 3/4 of the parmesan cheese.
- When the pasta is finished cooking, drain well, then add it to the skillet of bacon mixture. Toss well to combine.
- Stir the cream mixture into the pasta and combined well. Make sure the pasta is still hot so that it cooks the eggs and melts the cheese.
- Arrange the pasta carbonara on a plate, top with the pan seared scallops. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper, grated parmesan, and green onions.
- Perfect Pan Seared Scallops Directions
- Blot the scallops with paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large heavy skillet, (I like to use my non-stick frying pan). Add 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Make sure the frying pan is hot before adding scallops but not smoking.
- Add the scallops leaving plenty of space between. Overcrowding the pan will drop the pan temperature and cause scallops to steam rather than sear. Work in batches if neccessary.
- Sear for about 2-3 minutes or when bottom has a nice golden brown crust. Don't move them around in the pan or you will prevent them from forming that nice golden crust. After a couple of minutes have peek under to see if golden brown.
- Turn to sear the other side. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan.
- Spoon the melted butter over the scallops as the other side finishes cooking. (about 1-3 minutes more)
- Keep warm in the oven, if making in batches. Serve over the pasta carbonara.
These look a lot like the pasta dish I grew up making, from an old, yellowed book, that doesn’t even have an image on Amazon. Thanks for reminding me of them. Can’t wait to try, this and the older one.
Thanks so much for you comments.
The seared pieces of scallops are made to perfection but its pretty expensive over here. I will try the pasta by itself minus the scallops. Though I am a big eater of rice, my other half loves pasta. When I back home, this will be a perfect meal for other half as a belated Valentine’s day meal.
Hi Navaneetham, scallops are pretty expensive here too, the pasta is awesome and grilled chicken or shrimp would taste great as well.
Good morning, I have featured this recipe on my blog for my weekly seafood round-up and have also linked this recipe to your original post so that my readers will be forwarded to your site. Thank you for allowing me to share and have a wonderful weekend. Here is the link: http://carriesexperimentalkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/03/seafood-frenzy-friday-week-50-giveaway.html
Thanks Carrie for sharing my recipe. Love your blog
Congrats on the Top 9!! This looks amazing!!
Thanks Tara, hope everyone has a look at your awesome recipes.
Thanks JD for pinning the recipe and linking back to my blog, let me know if you try any of my recipes how they turn out for you.
This looks delicious. I have avoided searing scallops but you’ve given me the inspiration to give it a try. To cut calories I think I’ll try using turkey bacon. Do you think I could use egg beaters instead of egg yolks???
Thanks Raycinqueen for the comments. I thinks turkey bacon would taste great, and although I have never tried it I’m sure egg beaters could be replaced for egg yolks. Drop me a note if you try the recipe with your substitutions 🙂
Penney I would love if you drop me a note and let me know how it turns out when you make it. I’m sure you will love it!
Hi We made this recipe today and it was delicious. The only thing I had a problem with is I didn’t know how much pasta to use. How much pasta does this recipe call for?
Hi Rebecca, I am so glad you tried my recipe. The recipe is for 4 so usually you cook a pound per 4 persons.
Penney I am so glad you tried my recipe, great to hear about it. Prosciutto is a perfect substitute for bacon.
Hi Carole, looking forward to Food on Friday!
Laureen, thanks for stopping by and adding to the collection. I hope to see you again soon. Cheers
It looks so good, but I definitely bombed on the scallops. When you added butter to the pan was the pan already full of a whitish foam from the scallops? I feel like this is where I might have changed their flavor? The recipe is awesome- just want to get it right- and yes, I’m a first-timer!! Please help. 🙂
A couple of thoughts on what may have happened. Firstly were the scallops fresh or frozen? If they had been previously frozen, were they completely thawed. Did you pat scallops dry with paper towel? Did you preheat pan and oil (med-high heat) before adding scallops? Lastly was there plenty of room between scallops, crowding them in the pan will cause scallops to sweat rather than get a nice sear. I hope you give it another try, I certainly flopped my 1st attempts at searing scallops as well.
Make sure to use “dry” scallops, as the “wet” ones have added liquid. Ask the butcher where you purchase them. I know Whole Foods has only “dry” scallops. And be sure to pat them dry and not crowd them when cooking.
Laureen,
What a wonderful meal i have just enjoyed with my girlfriend, as a mere rookie in the kitchen I was nervous at the thought of something as gourmet sounding as pan seared scallop carbonara, however your step by step guide was beyond helpful, and I’m glad to say that the whole thing came off without a hitch.
I used Nelson scallops, which seemed quite little but I only seared them for about 1.5 – 2 minutes per side and pulled back slightly on the butter, they turned out golden, and not the slightest bit chewy.
Many thanks!
Chris
That is great Chris, how wonderful that you cooked something special for your girlfriend. Let me know if there is anything else you would like to try and I will do up a blog post with step by step instructions for it.
This recipe looks delicious Laureen! I will substitute chicken as I’m allergic to seafood but the boys would love the shrimp version!
thanks, let me know how they like it.
This was a great dish! Made it tonight and actually got my daughter to like scallops. She hates all seafood so this was a huge deal! =) Thanks for the great new recipe to add to our collection.
Loved this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing. Even got my seafood hating kids to try it.
Thank you, mission accomplished – getting kids to eat seafood!!
That’s so funny. I saw that same Gordon Ramsay episode and it also scared me off cooking scallops for a long time! I find Grape Seed Oil the best for them though. Doesn’t seem to burn as much.
I will try the Grape seed oil, lately I’ve been using avocado oil, which has a high smoke point.
Wow! This looks so good, thanks for you time in putting this up and sharing with us.
This looks like it’ll make a great valentines day dinner. I’ll team it up with a fried prawn starter and tiramisu dessert.
I think someone is going to be very lucky!
Lauren, I am a pretty bland cook but I saw the photo of your Carbonara w/ Pan seared Scallops. I followed your receipe exactly – I made the best scallops ever! My husband, who is the better cook was really impressed. I posted this on Pinterest and I have gotten over 250 re-pins and counting! Hilarious. Some people have had a hard time finding the receipe. I think you should contact Pinterest and make sure people can find this receipe. It is really popular! Thanks, Maurita
Thank you Marita, so glad the recipe turned out for you. I think the only way to get a recipe more noticed on Pinterest is to have wonderful people such as yourself repin it, thanks!
This recipe sounds delicious, but I’m a bit nervous about not really “cooking” the eggs…the thought of eating raw eggs doesn’t appeal to me. Do the eggs really cook in the hot pasta?
The hot pasta does cook the eggs to the proper temperature, just be sure to have egg mixture ready to go after draining pasta.
Looks delicious, but I’m a little nervous about the raw eggs – do they really cook in the pasta?
Is there a PRINT button that I missed????
This sounds WONDERFUL and wanted to print the recipe.
I am working on trying to install a user friendly print button, but don’t have one at this moment. Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
I was able to add a print link to enable you to print recipe, click on print button, you will then be redirected to a printable page. (print now is at the very bottom of this page)
I want to try making this meal this weekend for an anniversary dinner, but the egg and cream mixture makes me a little nervous…will the raw eggs be ok “cooking” just by tossing with pasta? I’m not a very advanced chef and am trying to venture out onto new food horizons! Want to make sure we don’t get food poisoning :-/ Looks delicious and can’t wait to make it!
Hi Abby, the hot pasta will cook the eggs completely, just make sure you don’t let the pasta cool down.