Pasta in Garlic Lemon Sauce with Lemony Scallops

If you need an easy no-fail, “fancy meal”, then this pasta in garlic lemon sauce with lemony scallops is what you need to try. Hey, we love to go out for dinner but making dinner at home that’s just as good (usually better) is just so rewarding….and cheaper!! Win-Win! Plus, you get a great dinner AND you don’t have to dress up to go out, just stay in your jammies!!!! Where else can you find a scallop pasta for less than $15 and that includes wine!

Trying New Pasta Dishes

We love exploring new ways of making pasta. From lemon based sauces to tomato and even slimming down Alfredo, we like to start with a base and go from there. Next we try adding in shrimp or sausage for extra protein and, of course, adding scallops is always a great way to dress up a dish! Whatever you have on hand or something you’re craving, pasta is a great way to experiment with flavor. One of the things we love most is to take a recipe and cut as much fat as possible by adding different flavors and spices to make the dish even better.

Prepare all the ingredients

I find that it’s so much faster (and less stressful) if I get all the ingredients ready before starting to cook anything. For this recipe, I usually start the water for the pasta first. NOTE: put a lid on the pan to keep the heat in so the water starts to boil sooner. Don’t cook the pasta with the lid on, it can cause overflow.

Measure all the ingredients; the pasta, wine, garlic and salt. Then zest the lemon and squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl. Slice the garlic into small slivers. Chop the parsley and measure the pepper flakes.

How to make pasta in Garlic Lemon Sauce with Lemony Scallops

First step is to start the water boiling for the pasta. Wait until the water starts to boil before adding the salt. After the salt is added put the pasta into the water. Cook the pasta according to the package.

Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel. This helps the scallops to brown.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan. Add half the garlic and all of the scallops. Brown the scallops about 3 minutes per side. Then add the lemon juice. This gives the scallops a great lemon flavor. Cook for an additional minute. Remove the scallops and set aside.

These scallops are going to have a great lemony pop!!! I know everyone says you should pan sear the scallops in a lot of olive oil and butter, but we found adding the lemon juice to the scallops makes these little bites of total yumminess!!! Plus, this cuts the calories from the butter.

After the scallops are cooked, remove them from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add in the remaining garlic, lemon juice and lemon zest, wine and some pasta water. Toss in the cooked pasta and coat with the sauce. Finally add the pepper flakes. Remember the pepper flakes are optional.

Finally, serve with a side (we like sautèed broccoli with ours!) and your favorite glass of wine!! Enjoy!!

Tips:

Pat dry the scallops. In order to get a nice brown they need to be super dry. Use a paper towel to get the scallops dry on all sides. If they aren’t dry they will steam in the pan instead of getting that nice golden outside.

Cook the scallops over high heat. By cooking them quickly in a very hot pan the scallops will be tender and juicy with a nice crispy crust.

Reserve the Pasta Water. I don’t know about you but half the time I forget to reserve the water. Two tips for this. 1. Remove the pasta with a wire strainer and place directly into the saute pan, or 2. place the colander into the sink when you start the pasta. Place a measuring cup inside the colander. This way when you go to pour the pasta into the colander the cup acts as a reminder to pull out some of that pasta water.

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