Scallop Pesto Pasta

Pesto pasta with scallops in grey bowl with fork and spoon.

5 from 4 votes

Scallop Pesto Pasta is a quick and easy dinner recipe. With pan seared scallops, a homemade basil pesto sauce and al dente pasta.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: scallop pesto pasta

Servings:

Calories: 896kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Scallops

40 grams/2 tablespoons butter Note 1
500 grams/1 pound scallops rinsed and patted dry with paper towel, Note 2
¼ teaspoon salt Note 3
½ teaspoon black pepper also Note 3

Basil Pesto

3 cups basil leaves Note 4
⅓ cup pistachio nuts Note 5
½ cup parmesan cheese Note 6
2-3 cloves garlic Note 7
⅓ cup/80 ml olive oil Note 8
2 tablespoons/ 40 ml lemon juice Note 9

Pasta

500 grams/ 1 pound fusilli pasta Note 10
½ cup/125 ml reserved pasta water Note 11

Garnish

parmesan cheese freshly grated using a micro plane zester
black pepper
basil leaves leaves only, stems removed

Instructions

Basil pesto: add the basil leaves, pistachio nuts, garlic and parmesan cheese to the food processor. Blitz to combine and then remove the lid and scrape the insides of the bowl down to the bottom. Next drizzle in the olive oil and lemon juice. Blitz again to combine. Once the pesto has come together, use a spatula to transfer it to a small bowl and place it into the fridge whilst you prepare the rest of the dish.
Scallops: place a large sauté pan on the stove top, turn the heat to high and add the butter. Let the butter melt for a minute or so and then add the scallops, salt and pepper. Cook the scallops for 3-5 minutes, generating a golden brown sear on each side. Use tongs to flip and cook the other side of each also. Once done, you can use a slotted turner to lift the scallops up and out of the pan and place them into a paper towel lined bowl.
Pasta: read and follow the packet instructions to cook the pasta in a medium sauce pan of boiling salted water. Moments before it is al dente, use a heatproof jug and scoop out 1-2 cups of the pasta water. Then use a colander over the sink to drain the pasta and discard the remaining water.
Combine: add the hot pasta to the sauté pan, then dollop in the pesto, measure ½ cup (125ml) of pasta water and add that in also. Now toss to combine the pasta, pesto and pasta water.
Scallops and pesto pasta: when the pesto pasta is consistently combined, add the cooked scallops back to the pan, gently stir to mix them in and allow them to heat through.
To serve: once the scallops have warmed through garnish the dish with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan cheese, black pepper and some basil leaves. Grab some bowls, forks and spoons and get ready to dive in!

Notes

- Note 1 - Butter: unsalted butter is used to sear the scallops. This is because we season them also with salt and pepper and don't want to over salt them. We want to get a nice golden brown coating on each side.
- Note 2 - Scallops: either sea scallops or bay scallops can be used. We want simply the scallop meat with no roe or shell.

- Note 3 - Salt and pepper: we use salt (kosher salt/cooking salt is best) and a little bit of black pepper to season the scallops as we cook them.
- Note 4 - Basil: we want to use fresh basil leaves where we trim the stems and use the leaves only. You will get 3 cups from 1 (large) bunch of basil. Try and use the fresh plant like version not the small package stuff in the plastic container.
- Note 5 - Pistachios: a hearty and robust nut that is excellent to use in pesto recipes. You can use the equivalent of pine nuts if you prefer. Aussies, this is the small bag size of pistachio nuts you will find at Woolies and Coles, ie 80 grams.

- Note 6 - Garlic: we use 2-3 fresh cloves of garlic to make the homemade pesto. I don't recommend substituting with garlic powder for this recipe, we want the texture of the garlic in the pesto.
- Note 7 - Parmesan cheese: freshly grated using a micro plane zester will give the best results. You can use pecorino romano cheese (equivalent amount) if you wish too.
- Note 8 - Olive oil: olive oil is the 'glue' that sticks the rest of the pesto ingredients together.

- Note 9 - Lemon juice: bottled or freshly squeezed is fine, whichever works best for you.

- Note 10 - Pasta: I like to use fusilli pasta for this recipe. The pesto sauce clings to pasta and the texture is really great. You can also use fettuccine, spaghetti, penne or ziti.
- Note 11 - Reserved pasta water: it is much easier to scoop out more than you need ie 1 -2 cups and then measure the ½ cup (125 ml) from there. As you are over the hot stove with the splashing water, simply scoop out a bit and then measure later when you have a little bit more space and time.

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