Creamy Seafood Tagliatelle with King Scallops & Prawns

This was the seafood tagliatelle I made on 4 April 2026, when I decided that a perfectly decent bowl of pasta apparently wasn’t enough. There were king prawns, king scallops, a creamy tomato sauce, seafood through the tagliatelle, and garlic bread. Some of the scallops and shell-on prawns went back into cleaned scallop shells for serving. It was rather excessive, but that’s never been much of a deterrent.

I split the prawns in two: half peeled and mixed into the pasta, the rest cooked shell-on with the scallops for the top. Peeling a mountain of king prawns is a right faff, so this was a reasonable compromise.

Serves: 2 generously · Prep: around 30 minutes · Cook: around 25–30 minutes

These quantities are practical repeat estimates, rather than weights taken on the night. The combination and cooking order come from the original April cook.

Ingredients

• 200–250g dried tagliatelle
• 8–12 large raw king prawns, split between peeled prawns for the sauce and shell-on prawns for serving
• 4–6 large king scallops, removed from their shells, with the clean shells reserved for presentation if wanted
• 200–250g mixed seafood, chilled and prepared according to its pack instructions
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (working quantity)
• 1 heaped tsp Stirling sun-dried tomato paste, or another good sun-dried tomato paste
• About ½ x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2–3 tbsp crème fraîche
• 1–2 tbsp olive oil and a knob of butter
• Freshly ground black pepper, and a little dried or fresh parsley
• A splash of reserved pasta cooking water
• Garlic bread to serve
• Optional: a little lemon juice right at the end

Method

1. Get the seafood ready first. I remove the scallops from their shells, trim away anything that shouldn’t be eaten and pat the scallop meat dry. I peel about half the king prawns and leave the others shell-on. Everything goes back into the fridge until I’m ready to cook it. If I’m using the scallop shells to serve, I clean them thoroughly, boil them and dry them in the oven before food goes anywhere near them.
2. Start the sauce in stainless steel. In a large stainless-steel frying pan I heat a little olive oil over medium heat, add the finely diced onion and cook gently for about 5–6 minutes, until it softens. I add the garlic towards the end and stir without letting it burn.
3. Build the tomato flavour. I add a heaped teaspoon of sun-dried tomato paste and cook it for a minute, stirring it through the onion. Then in goes roughly half a tin of chopped tomatoes. I let that reduce gently for 8–10 minutes. I want it rich and concentrated, not swimming in watery tomato juice.
4. Cook the tagliatelle. Once the sauce is reducing nicely, I get a large pan of salted water boiling and cook the pasta to just short of the packet time. Before draining, I save a mug of starchy pasta water. That’s what brings everything together.
5. Add the seafood to the sauce. I stir through the mixed seafood, following its pack instructions and cooking it thoroughly. The peeled raw prawns go in near the end and usually need only a couple of minutes, until opaque and cooked. I turn the heat down, stir in 2–3 tablespoons of crème fraîche and add a little pasta water if it needs loosening. It should coat the pasta rather than resemble soup.
6. Sear the king scallops separately. I get a clean stainless-steel frying pan properly hot with a little oil. The scallops must be dry; wet scallops steam rather than sear. I cook them for around 60–90 seconds on the first side and roughly 45–60 seconds on the other, adjusting for size, until golden and cooked through. A little butter goes in towards the end, not at the start where it can burn.
7. Finish the shell-on prawns. In the same pan I cook the remaining king prawns until the shells are nicely coloured and the flesh is opaque and thoroughly cooked. They take a little longer than the peeled ones depending on size. I give them a turn and keep the pan juices.
8. Toss the pasta. I tip the drained tagliatelle into the creamy tomato seafood sauce and toss it carefully with a spoonful or two of pasta water. The sauce should cling to every ribbon. I taste for black pepper and add parsley.
9. Do the scallop-shell presentation. For the original dinner I put some scallops and shell-on prawns into the cleaned scallop shells with a little buttery sauce. If the shells and contents need warming, a very brief finish under the grill will do; I don’t want to overcook the scallops after searing them.
10. Serve immediately. Into big bowls goes the tagliatelle, followed by the scallop shells, the remaining shell-on king prawns and all those pan juices. Garlic bread alongside, because apparently this dish still needed another carbohydrate.

There was no ’nduja in this version — I used the sun-dried tomato paste we already had. The trick is to keep the creamy sauce fairly gentle and the scallops separate until the end, so good scallops don’t get buried in a pan of pasta and overcooked.

And yes, this is a completely different dish from my red-wine seafood tagliatelle. Both have their place, but this is the one with the scallop shells and garlic bread.