Seafood pasta with shrimp and scallops and lots of garlic is seriously one of the fastest and most delicious meals you can make with pasta!
If you love shrimp, scallops, butter and garlic, this seafood pasta recipe is for you!
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It’s a beautiful weeknight meal that can be made in under half an hour, but the cooking time is just half of that.
One of my most popular seafood recipes is my simple garlic and butter shrimp with spaghetti. so I thought you would also enjoy this seafood pasta recipe which includes scallops.
Tips on Making this Seafood Pasta Recipe
Seafood should not be overcooked, so I include step by step instructions on timing so that your dish will turn out perfectly! Edited 1/22: just read the hundreds of rave reviews and comments readers have already left below! I’m so happy you all love my recipe!
The busiati pasta (the one I linked to is similar) is not a very popular shape here in the US, but it is traditionally served with seafood in Italy. If you can’t find this shape of pasta, no problem, just use another, like linguine, spaghetti or a shorter pasta.
In order to make sure this dish is as flavorful as possible, be sure to use really good quality seafood and pasta. The quality of the ingredients is key, even down to the garlic and parsley. It truly makes a difference!
Yes, all the ingredients are important all the time, but don’t even mess around with poor quality seafood; that’s the worst.
If you love seafood, you’re going to love my cioppino recipe!
Or what about this super quick and simple oven baked fish (Italian-style)?
How do you Cook Frozen Seafood?
It’s easy, just thaw and cook as you would if it was fresh. I like to defrost mine in a colander. Seafood thaws quite quickly.
Don’t be scared to cook seafood, it’s really not difficult. I think the hardest thing is not overcooking it.
Love tomato sauce with your seafood? Try my pasta with seafood sauce recipe (from Italy)
Can I Serve this without Pasta?
Yes, make some rice, quinoa, or zucchini noodles or even gluten free pasta for those who want to avoid gluten.
Fresh seafood is a necessity.
Seafood Pasta with Shrimp and Scallops (and Garlic!)
Recipe by Christina Conte serves 4
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Prepare the Scallops
Soak the scallops for 10 minutes in a brine solution (3 tablespoonfuls of Kosher or sea salt in 16 oz water).
Remove after 10 minutes and place on a rack to dry.
Cook the Pasta
Next, put a large pot of well salted water on to boil for the pasta. Once the pasta goes in, set a timer for 7 minutes before the pasta will be ready (according to package instructions.)
Make the Seafood Sauce
Make sure the scallops are dry. If they are not, pat them dry with a paper towel. When the timer goes off, put a large cast iron pan on high heat and add the extra virgin olive oil.
When the pan and oil are very hot, add the scallops and sear them for about 1 1/2 minutes before adding the shrimp, garlic, and parsley.
Cook for another 2 minutes, then turn the scallops and shrimp and cook for a further 1 1/2 minutes.
Next, add the wine, which will cook down quickly, scraping the bottom of the pan. At this point, turn the heat down just to keep the pan warm.
Add the butter and stir to melt it.
This seafood pasta sauce is probably the quickest sauce you can make!
You can add some freshly ground black pepper, if desired, then taste the sauce or a piece of seafood and add salt if needed.
Add the Pasta to the Seafood Sauce
Drain the pasta, which should be ready, but reserve a cup or so of pasta water. You will only need this pasta water if you want to add some after mixing everything together. Add the pasta directly to the seafood sauce in the pan.
Stir gently to incorporate all the ingredients together. Add some of the reserved pasta water, if desired, then top with a twist of lemon in the pan.
Serve the Seafood Pasta!
Serve immediately as this seafood pasta dish is best piping hot.
This is not a fancy dish, so bring the pan to the table and serve it from there. Don’t forget some crusty bread to mop up the buttery, garlic and wine sauce at the end!
I was shooting in a hurry as I had a hungry crew behind me waiting to eat this! Haha!
Another seafood pasta recipe for you: mussel pasta (Italian style with tomatoes and olives)!
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Seafood Pasta with Shrimp and Scallops (and Garlic!)
A buttery garlic wine sauce pairs with shrimp and scallops in this easy dish. Add some pasta and dinner is served!
Ingredients
- 1 lb (454 g) scallops, fresh or thawed
- Kosher salt
- 12 oz (340 g) good quality pasta
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 8 large or 12 medium raw shrimp, fresh or frozen (and thawed) peeled, and deveined
- 3 or 4 cloves minced garlic
- chopped Italian, flat leaf parsley
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 to 3 oz (57 g to 85 g) good quality butter
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) dry white wine (you can substitute seafood stock or broth if you'd like)
- (lemon slices/wedges to serve)
Instructions
Prepare the Scallops
- Soak the scallops for 10 minutes in a brine solution (3 Tbsp Kosher salt in 16 oz water.)
- Remove after 10 minutes and place on a rack to dry.
Cook the Pasta
- Next, put a large pot of well salted water on to boil for the pasta. Once the pasta goes in, set a timer for 7 minutes before the pasta will be ready (according to package instructions.)
Make the Sauce
- Make sure the scallops are dry. If they are not, pat them dry with a paper towel. When the timer goes off, put a large cast iron pan on high heat and add the extra virgin olive oil.
- When the pan and oil are very hot, add the scallops and sear them for about 1 1/2 minutes before adding the shrimp, garlic, and parsley.
- Cook for another 2 minutes, then turn the scallops and shrimp and cook for a further 1 1/2 minutes. Next, add the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan; turn the heat down just to keep it warm.
- Add the butter and stir to melt. Add some freshly ground black pepper, if desired, then taste the sauce or a piece of seafood and add salt if needed.
Add the Pasta to the Seafood Sauce
- Drain the pasta, which should be ready, but reserve a cup or so of pasta water. You will only need this pasta water if you want to add some after mixing everything together. Add the pasta directly to the seafood sauce in the pan.
- Stir gently to incorporate all the ingredients together. Add some of the reserved pasta water, if desired, then top with a twist of lemon in the pan.
Serve.
- Serve immediately as this seafood pasta dish is best piping hot. Don't forget some crusty bread to mop up the buttery garlic and wine sauce at the end!
Notes
Avoid overcooking the seafood or it will become tough and rubbery.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 484Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 175mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 31g
Nutrition information is estimated using 2 oz butter.
Potato and salmon fish cakes are loved by even those who dislike salmon (like me)!
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Do you have a recommendation or two, for a side dish/accompaniment?
Thanks greatly –
Bruce
Hi Bruce, although this is not an authentic Italian dish, I would not recommend having any side or accompaniment other than bread. When you have a showstopper of a dish like this one, serving it with a side takes away from it. I will add, however, that you could definitely serve an appetizer and/or a light soup beforehand, and then serve a salad after the pasta dish. Italians never serve a side with pasta dishes.
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Looking forward to making this, how much parsley do you recommend?
A tablespoonful, chopped.
If you don’t care about your cast iron seasoning, sure, go ahead and deglaze with wine, which is acidic. This dish should be possible in a heavy bottomed stainless steel, which won’t be potentially ruined by the deglazing step.
I deglaze in my cast iron pan all the time and doesn’t hurt the seasoning. Maybe your cast iron pan seasoning is very new?
Can the left overs be refrigerated for next day?
Sure! I wouldn’t reheat it in the microwave, though. Reheat in a skillet briefly.
Hi!
Please forgive the newbie question. I want to make this for my family, but with young kids, I am hesitant to use wine. I know they say the alcohol boils off, but am still hesitant to use it. Are there any acceptable substitutions? Thanks in advance.
Hi Mike, just to put it in perspective, this dish would be served to your family at a restaurant, no mention would be made about its preparation. The amount of wine (even if the alcohol didn’t burn off) is negligible. That said, if you absolutely don’t want to use it, I’d say use a seafood stock. Enjoy!
Try white wine vinegar, that’s what I would use! I probably wouldn’t use 1/3 cup of it though, probably a lot less (there’s some sort of ratio for substituting it but I can’t remember). It’s good to have on hand for situations where you don’t want to use wine/don’t have any of it. It still technically has alcohol in it, but it’s such a small amount you don’t need an ID to buy it at the store or anything. Happy cooking :)
in recipe it does state, to sub for a stock/broth of your choice, excellent recipe, I did make mine with sobi noodles and also did a one pot method both were awesome , thank you for the hearty recipes.
great
Great recipe
Thank you so much, Annette! :)