I could seriously use a tropical vacation right about now.
I know, I know… it’s the beginning of August and already hot outside and the fact that I’m 6 months pregnant but I would love to be on a beach right now, without kids, sipping some kind of tropical drink with one of those little umbrellas.
Haha
I know, totally wishful thinking in my current state so my backyard with my watermelon umbrella and a mocktail in hand will have to do for now.
Maybe the hubby and I can take a tropical vacation once this baby is born? That would be amazing.
Anyway, onto this scallop & goat cheese pasta.
I think I’ve mention before that goat cheese is one of my absolute favorite cheeses. I just love the texture and the tangy-ness of it. Plus, it melts so nicely to make into so many different goat cheese dishes.
Like these crostini’s and this red pepper pasta – which was actually the inspiration for this post.
I make the red pepper goat cheese pasta all the time but this time I just wanted to switch it up a little bit.
We had some fresh scallops that the hubby picked up from the store the other day and I figured I would make a nice little pasta to go with them.
For this pasta, I just melted the goat cheese with some heavy cream and mixed in some fresh cut asparagus and a few spices.
Then after stirring the sauce into the cooked pasta, quickly flash cook the scallops and add them to the top of the dish.
It’s super simple to make and comes together with just one pan for the sauce and scallops and one pot for cooking the pasta.
Very little cleanup is always a plus for me… I’m not a fan of doing the dishes. haha
Scallop & Goat Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 11 oz goat cheese
- 8 oz heavy cream
- 1 lb sea scallops
Instructions
- Bring large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook to al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet. Chop asparagus into bite sized pieces and add to pan. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and toss to coat. Saute for 3-5 minutes until asparagus is cooked through.
- Add goat cheese and heavy cream to pan and cook just until goat cheese is melted and heavy cream is warmed through; about 4-6 minutes. Pour mixture over cooked pasta and stir to combine.
- Using same pan, add 1 Tbsp olive oil and heat over medium-high. Place scallops in pan in single layer, spaced about 1 inch apart.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook scallops for 2 minutes per side without moving except to flip over.
- Divide pasta among dishes and top with 2-3 scallops each dish. Enjoy.
