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    Home » Recipes » The Best Summer Recipes

    Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

    Published: Aug 21, 2014 · Modified: Jun 8, 2022 by Sally Cameron · This post may contain affiliate links · 58 Comments

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    Great food makes for great bribery. With the promise of a fabulous feast, we invited ourselves over to good friends for the weekend. They have a gorgeous home overlooking the California coast. Hey, what are friends for? The star of the dinner - bacon-wrapped scallops. Easy to assemble and grill and delicious to eat!

    Grilled scallops wrapped with Prosciutto on bamboo skewers.

    We’ve known Dave and Amy for many years and have been privileged to stay at their beautiful home in Ventura, California. Whenever we visit, we threaten to move in and not leave. A custom-built house with beautiful views of the blue Pacific coastline, subterranean wine cellar, and of course, a fantastic gourmet kitchen with a Sub-Zero fridge and a big Wolf range.

    Beautiful gourmet kitchen with Wolf range.

    The Joy of Cooking With Friends

    The blue coast of California from the top deck.

    Cooking by itself is so much fun, but cooking with friends, for friends, multiplies the fun. The plan for the weekend was to hit the farmers market for fresh ingredients, cook together, enjoy what we made, drink some wine, and soak in the fresh ocean air and views from the third floor deck of their home. Sounded like a perfect weekend to us.

    Ocean view of Ventura, CA, as viewed by a black Labrador, Lucky, on the top deck of the house.

    When family and friends found out what we were up to, our quiet dinner for four quickly morphed into a party for nine. Ha! The more the merrier.

    Another shot of the gourmet kitchen.

    Menu Planning

    When planning a party menu, I start with the main course and build around it. For this dinner, we planned grilled bacon-wrapped scallops because our hostess loved scallops. We picked up beautiful jumbo sized ones at the farmers market.

    Shopping at a farmers market for seafood.

    Instead of the usual bacon wrapping, this time we used Prosciutto. Either one works. After wrapping, we skewered them, drizzled with olive oil, and grilled.

    Big sea scallops ready to be skewered for grilling.

    How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

    The process of wrapping scallops with prosciutto for the grill.

    Slice the bacon or Prosciutto in half lengthwise (or thirds if your scallops are smaller) and wrap each scallop with a piece, ends overlapping, then skewer. Double pronged bamboo skewers provide good stability.

    grilled scallops wrapped in prosciutto |afoodcentriclife.com

    Dressed for Success

    To dress the grilled scallops, we made a light and creamy mango-citrus sauce. It’s the same sauce I used for the lobster salad a few weeks ago.

    Combine fresh citrus juices, add chopped shallots, diced mango, oil, and a little honey then puree it all in a blender. Taste and season with salt and white pepper. I couldn’t wait until Amy tasted it. Loved her reaction! You’ve got to make it.

    Letting a friend taste the sauce, waiting for her reaction.
    Good! She loved the sauce. Too bad you can't hear the yum!

    The Rest of the Menu

    With the main course nailed, we picked up what looked best at the farmers market. Nice plump artichokes looked great and everyone loves them.

    A pot of artichokes ready for steaming.

    Steam trimmed artichokes in a big pot, cool, split in half top to bottom, remove the fuzzy choke, drizzle with oil and grill to finish.

    Split artichokes on the grill, scallops grilling in the background.

    No grill? No problem. Wrap the scallops and sear them in a non-stick pan.

    The finished platter of grilled scallops wrapped with prosciutto.

    With tomatoes at their summer peak, we added a refreshing heirloom tomato gazpacho to the menu. A chilled soup bursting with fresh flavor, gazpacho is like eating a garden. Make a batch and eat it over the course of a week.

    You can save leftover vegetables in your Sub-Zero fridge to keep fresh for when you are ready to make your next batch of gazpacho.

    A Chef's tip on gazpacho: Many people are not familiar with chilled soups. They might even tell you they don’t like them, even if they have never tried them. So make it and serve it in small cups, bowls or martini glasses, and watch people change their mind. It's delicious, cool, refreshing, flavor-filled and even good for you.

    To round out the feast, we made a Mediterranean quinoa salad with fresh mint and dill plus feta, olives and veggies, and a tossed green salad for it’s crisp green contribution.

    Daniel Plan Mediterranean Quinoa Salad|AFoodCentricLife.com

    Save Room for Dessert

    To complete the menu, a great dessert is mandatory. It’s what people eat last and remember most. To finish the feast, we made my favorite go-to dessert, a lemon almond polenta cake. It is always a hit and not a crumb was left.

    One pan. An easy batter made in a food processor. Gluten-free. Reduced sugar. Dairy-free. Baked in a springform pan. Yes, it is the proverbial piece of cake, on several levels. The batter is so good, you’ll want to just eat the batter, which Dave proved.

    Lemond Almond Polenta Cake with Berries|AFoodCentricLife.com
    Slices of gluten-free almond polenta cake.

    Wolf's dual convection oven with two fans and four heating elements produce more uniform heating than a single convection fan can deliver. Since the air is heated consistently throughout the oven cavity, there are no hot or cool spots, and this means greater consistency in your foods without ever rotating the pan. The cake came out perfect.

    Making whipped cream for the lemon almond cake.

    To serve the cake, we topped it with whipped coconut cream (I use an Isi Whipper), fun toy to have!) and fresh berries.

    To do this, make sure your coconut cream is super cold and add a little sweetener (like honey or agave syrup) if desired.

    A top down shot of the dinner table with all of the wonderful foods we prepared.

    The Feast!

    That last minute rush to get all of the food on the table. We finally got to enjoy the fruit of our labors and celebrate a great weekend with friends over a fantastic dinner

    Cheers! Time for dinner with all gather around.

    More Recipes

    If you love scallops, try these seared scallops with pasta or seared scallops with orange miso sauce.

    📖 Recipe

    grilled scallops wrapped in prosciutto | afoodcentriclife.com

    Bacon-wrapped scallops

    Sally Cameron
    Jumbo scallops wrapped in strips of Prosciutto are an easy and impressive main course. Wrap and skewer them ahead, then grill to perfection. The creamy mango-citrus sauce is a wonderful compliment. Serve with quinoa or brown rice, veggies and a salad. This recipe doubles or more easily for a crowd. No grill? Sear in a cast iron skillet or in a non-stick pan.
    5 from 1 vote
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    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 10 minutes mins
    Total Time 25 minutes mins
    Course Seafood
    Cuisine American
    Servings 4
    Calories 279 kcal

    Equipment

    • Bamboo or metal grilling skewers

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 ¼ pounds jumbo sea scallops about
    • 4 ounces strips of bacon or prosciutto
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
    • ¼ teaspoons granulated garlic
    • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 4 9″ skewers see notes below

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    Instructions
     

    • Lay scallops out on a flat surface. If it is still attached, pinch off the “foot” (abductor), a tough little piece on one side and discard. Lay out strips of Prosciutto and slice them in half (or thirds) lengthwise. Wrap one strip of Prosciutto around each scallop and overlap the end. Place three wrapped scallops on each skewer.
    • Drizzle a little olive oil over both sides of the scallops and sprinkle with salt, garlic and pepper. Use a little more if needed, but go easy on salt as Prosciutto is salty.
    • Heat grill to hot, clean grates with a stiff brush and oil the grates. Place scallop skewers on the grill and close the lid. Cook about 2 minutes per side, until scallops are pearly white, opaque and a little firm when touched. Don’t overcook them to maintain tenderness. Prosciutto will be crisp at the edges. Serve with citrus sauce, a few tablespoons per person or a good extra virgin olive oil.

    Notes

    Note on skewers – I’ve found that 9″ double pronged bamboo skewers work the best for these big scallops as they provide stability and easy turning when grilling. They are inexpensive and can be purchased online on Amazon. You can also use two standard bamboo skewers for each of the three scallops. If they are too long, cut them with kitchen shears.
    When buying prosciutto, be sure the label read just pork and salt. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 279kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 21gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 889mgPotassium: 351mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 15IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg
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    « Gluten-Free Zucchini Muffins
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    Comments

    1. Kimmy Ripley says

      September 16, 2014 at 1:50 pm

      Oh my goodness! I love scallops and I am going to need to try this recipe!! Thank you.

      Reply
    2. kjasus says

      September 16, 2014 at 12:45 pm

      i love bacon wrapped scallops

      Reply
    3. Thomas Murphy says

      September 16, 2014 at 12:36 pm

      Awesome house! Thanks for the giveaway.

      Reply
    4. Amanda Sakovitz says

      September 16, 2014 at 8:49 am

      https://twitter.com/aes529/status/511902650099826688

      Reply
    5. Amanda Sakovitz says

      September 16, 2014 at 8:48 am

      I'm not sure which is better looking; the food or the kitchen!

      Reply
    6. ewhatley says

      September 15, 2014 at 4:17 pm

      Those scallops look so good - I will try that recipe for sure.

      Reply
    7. sharonjo says

      September 14, 2014 at 8:14 pm

      Tweeted here: https://twitter.com/sharonjo2/status/511350454073044992

      Reply
    8. sharonjo says

      September 14, 2014 at 8:13 pm

      What a fabulous kitchen and a wonderful meal. I've never learned to "share" a kitchen with anyone else, but you make it look like so much fun with delicious results.

      Reply
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    Chef Sally Cameron of aFoodcentricLife.com in her kitchen.

    Welcome! I'm Sally, a professionally trained chef, former personal chef and caterer, lover of fresh healthy food, and sharing it with others.

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