Creamy Cajun Scallop Alfredo: Spice Meets Comfort in Every Bite

*Description:*
Chef Tom brings a Cajun twist to creamy Alfredo—searing sweet scallops on the Fusion Griddle and tossing bucatini in a silky sauce of roasted garlic oil, butter, Parmigiano and Pecorino. We’ll thin-slice red onion for a quick char, microplane fresh garlic so it melts right in, and use dual-zone griddle control to juggle sauce, scallops, and onions without overcooking. Big flavor, buttery texture, and that perfect Cajun kick.

*What You’ll See In This Video:*
• Thin-slicing red onion & microplaning garlic
• Blooming Italiano seasoning + smoked paprika in butter & oil
• Building a smooth Alfredo in cast iron (Parmigiano + Pecorino)
• Dual-zone griddle setup (hot sear / medium hold)
• Searing scallops to a tender ~140°F with deep color
• Cooking bucatini al dente and tossing to glossy coat
• Plating with charred onions and basil chiffonade

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*Product URLs:*
► Full recipe page: https://www.atbbq.com/blogs/recipes/cajun-scallop-alfredo
► Fusion GFE75 2-Burner Stainless Steel Teppanyaki Griddle: https://www.atbbq.com/products/fusion-gfe75-2-burner-stainless-steel-teppanyaki-griddle
► Cattleman’s Grill Cajun Fusion Rub: https://www.atbbq.com/products/cattleman-s-grill-cajun-fusion-rub
► Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning: https://www.atbbq.com/products/cattleman-s-grill-italiano-seasoning
► Texas Olive Ranch Roasted Garlic EVOO: https://www.atbbq.com/products/texas-olive-ranch-garlic-infused-extra-virgin-olive-oil-250ml-arbequina-blend
► Lodge 12″ Cast Iron Skillet: https://www.atbbq.com/products/lodge-logic-12-inch-cast-iron-skillet
► Microplane Zester/Grater: https://www.atbbq.com/products/microplane-premium-classic-zester-and-grater
► Boos Block R02 Maple 24″x18″x1.5″: https://www.atbbq.com/products/boos-block-r02-maple-cutting-board
► ATBBQ Prep & Serve Trays: https://www.atbbq.com/products/atbbq-prep-serve-trays
► GI Metal Dough Cutter/Scraper: https://www.atbbq.com/products/gi-metal-stainless-steel-dough-cutters
► Cangshan Kita 8″ Chef Knife (with sheath): https://www.atbbq.com/products/cangshan-kita-8in-chef-knife-with-sheath
► ATBBQ New Era 9Fifty Hat: https://www.atbbq.com/products/atbbq-new-era-9fifty-snapback
► Hedley & Bennett Denver Brown Apron: https://www.atbbq.com/products/hedley-and-bennett-denver-brown-apron

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Hey everybody, I’m Chef Tom with atbbcq.com. And this is Cajun scallop Alfredo. Cooking up some scallops today. And if you haven’t messed with scallops much, you really should. They’re very meaty type of seafood. And we’re going to pair that with a Cajun Alfredo sauce over some bukatini. We’re going to do just a little bit of knife work here. I’m going to use some red onion in this recipe. And I want to slice pretty thin. Next, we’re going to break down some garlic on the microplane so it melts right into this Alfredo sauce. For the cheeses in our Alfredo, I’m going to be using some Parmesano Reo and Pecarino Romano, equal parts. Again, we’re going to break these down on the microplane, so they’re super fine. You’re going to melt right into that sauce. Got about a pound of our sea scallops today. This will get you through about four servings, depending on how much scallop you want to eat. Seasoning is super simple. We’re just using the Cajun fusion from Cattleman’s Grill. Little dusting on the top of each. Now, we talk about this a lot. You get a big piece of meat, put a lot of seasoning on it. You got a little piece of meat or seafood in this case. Don’t go too crazy. Now, we’re cooking today on the fusion griddle. I’m getting some garlic oil down. We’re going to cook up these onions. Just looking to get a little bit of color on these and soften them up. Now, at the same time, we’re going to start our Alfredo sauce. And then we’ll finish by searing off the scallops. Now, in the skillet, we start building this Alfredo sauce. We got some butter, some olive oil, and we’ll throw some garlic in there as well. The griddle is over low, medium low heat right now, but it’s been heating up for a while. And the cast iron has also been preheating in here, so this goes pretty quick. And you want to make sure you don’t burn that garlic or it’s going to get bitter. Now, a little bit of smoked paprika. Nice pretty red color. And then we’ll use the Cattleman’s Grill Italiano. Now we’re coming in with some heavy cream. And we just want to bring this up kind of to a simmer and we’ll whisk in the cheeses. That’s pretty. Onions are softened up. We got some crispy edges. We’ll pull those off and we can sear off our scallops. As soon as this Alfredo gets to where we want it. Now that that cream and the mixture has come to a simmer before it goes crazy, we’re going to start adding in our cheeses. If at any point you feel like those bubbles are getting a little too high in the pan, just take the pan off the griddle for a minute. Otherwise, you will be cleaning cream off of your griddle. So, I’m going to fully turn off this burner now. It’s going to hold some heat cuz it’s a pretty heavyduty griddle. I don’t want this to overflow, but I do want it to reduce down a bit. Now, we have two distinct cooking zones. This one is off, but obviously it’s holding a lot of heat, so it’s it’s still starting to break that sauce down, starting to reduce. Over here, we’re on like a medium low heat, but again, it’s been heating for a long time. So, it’s going to be good enough to give us a sear on these scallops. And you can hear that as soon as it hits. See how this has thickened up? Get those little bubbles formed. It’s going be nice and creamy. Ooh, look at that sear. And we’re even picking up some of that kind of fond from the onion, from the olive oil underneath it. So, still got a little bit of squishiness to them, but they’re firmed up. I’m not even even going to temp these things. I can tell that these are done. Now, we’re going to cook up our bukatini. Little salt in the water. I love bukatini. It’s got that little tunnel in between all of the outside pasta that’s just going to hold so much sauce. Been about 8 minutes. Just gave it the little bite test. It’s still got bite, but it’s softened up. That’s where we want it. So, let’s get it out of this hot water. We can save this water just in case we want to thin the sauce out. But, let’s go see how it looks in the sauce first. You can use as little or as much as you want of these bukatini. I want it nice and creamy. I want it fully coated. So, I might not be using the full pound here, which is fine cuz we can snack on that later. All right. Hot noodles, warm sauce. Let’s just let it sit and then we can build some plates. Little garnish for the top with some extra flavor. Some fresh basil here. We’re going to shifod this. Just kind of stack them and roll them and slice them. Slicing through the herbs so we can keep those oils intact cuz that’s what’s going to give you all the aroma. All right, onto the plate. Now, charred red onions. And we’re just going to nestle in some of these scallops. Pretty it up with a little bit of basil. Let’s get a bite now. Man, so creamy. scallop super tender. I’m getting that Cajun seasoning on it. I’m also getting that smoked paprika out of the pasta sauce. I feel like this is a really fun play on like what we’d think of like chicken fetuccini alfredo with a Cajun spin and a different noodle and a different protein. This is a special pasta dish. Thanks so much for watching. And be sure to check out atbbq.com for all the products featured in today’s video. If you enjoy the recipe, hit that subscribe button. And if you have any questions or comments or there’s anything you’d like to see me cook, let me know in the comment section down below. Let’s be good to one another. For more recipes, tips, and techniques, head over to atbbq.com/thesauce. All things barbecue, where barbecue legends are made.