Creamy Bacon Pasta With Coffee Spice Rubbed Scallops

By cindy sandberg
@cindyLs

This is another "Mystery ingredient" challenge entry. I had a lot of fun brainstorming ideas for this one.

Rating:

★★★★★ 19 votes

Comments:

137 Comments

Serves:

4-6

Prep:

30 Min

Cook:

20 Min

Method:

Stove Top

Blue Ribbon Recipe

Notes from the Test Kitchen:
I cannot wait to make this one again for all my seafood loving friends! The coffee really adds a wonderful (and surprising!) flavor to this stand-out dish.

Ingredients

16 oz: spaghetti or angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
1 lb: bacon or pancetta, diced
1 1/2 c: heavy cream
: salt and pepper to taste
3/4 c: parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 c: parsley or basil, chiffonade
2 lb: medium sized scallops
1 tsp: ground coffee
1 tsp: salt
1/2 tsp: paprika
1/2 tsp: brown sugar
1/4 tsp: garlic powder
1/4 tsp: onion powder
1/8 tsp: coarse ground black pepper
1 pinch: corriander

How to Make Creamy Bacon Pasta With Coffee Spice Rubbed Scallops

Step-by-Step

1Pat scallops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with coffee/spice mix and gently rub/pat onto scallops. Set aside.
2Cook bacon til crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain and remove all but 1/4c fat from pan. When bacon grease is hot again, add scallops and cook until just opaque, about 2 min. per side. Remove from pan. Wipe any remaining grease from pan.
3Pour cream into pan and heat to just below a simmer. Stir in salt and pepper and grated cheese. Place cooked pasta in cream sauce and toss to coat. Toss in bacon and sprinkle with parsley or basil. Plate pasta and top with scallops.