Scallops are one of my favorite proteins to eat — delicate flavor, tender, and ever-so-slightly chewy. There are so many delicious ways to prepare scallops, what’s not to love about them? Here’s one of a variety of ways that I’ll share with you…
Serves: 2 big eaters or 3-4 smaller portions (as a side or if you have Littles, for example)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: about 20 minutes
Notes: For perfectly seared scallops make sure you use a paper towel or clean kitchen cloth to gently pat them dry as possible. Do not press — this will squish the scallops flat as this will squeeze out the internal moisture and flavor of the scallops and they will be chewy not tender. You’ll also get less of that delicate, oceany taste naturally in scallops.
Ingredients:
- Half a package of your favorite pasta (I prefer fettucine or linguine)(this is for two big eaters; use the whole package if you have more people in your family)
- About 2 cups of your favorite fresh green vegetable such as spinach, chopped asparagus, chard, kale (adjust less or more than 2 cups according to preference)
- 3/4 lbs of jumbo scallops or 1 lb of medium scallops (do not use small scallops — they don’t sear well and will dry up in the pan very quickly. The bigger the scallop the better)
- 1/2 of a white or yellow onion (chopped or finely sliced)
- 1 stick of grass-fed butter (must be grass-fed as this provides unsaturated healthy fats, more potent in vitamins A & K, has some anti-inflammatory effects and is far less in cholesterol than cheaper butter)
- 1 tablespoon of high heat point cooking oil (I love using avocado oil. Please do not use olive oil as this will burn and releases chemicals at high heat no good for you)
- 1 whole lemon cut in half and set aside (to freshly squeeze later)
- 1/4 cup chicken bone broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (for scallops)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (for pasta)
- Salt and pepper to taste (for searing scallops and tossing pasta)
- Optional: 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Optional 1 tablespoon chopped parsley to garnish
- Optional 1/4 cup of cooking wine (such as sauvignon blanc or rice wine) (this is not crucial for the recipe, but the cooking wine releases components that tenderizes the scallops further and harmonizes all the flavors deeper)
Steps:
- Boil pasta according to package instructions until they barely start to become aldente (they’ll finish cooking in a later step). Drain, reserving about 1/4 cup of pasta water in a separate bowl, and set pasta and pasta water aside. Put several ice cubes on top of the pasta and use tongs to gently toss the strands of pasta to keep them from sticking to each other while they’re set aside (I like to do Step 1 while I am doing Step 2 to keep cook time under 30 minutes).
- Heat cooking oil in a wide, deep-welled saute pan on high-heat. When oil starts to ripple your pan is hot enough, so turn the heat down to medium then, with tongs, carefuly place the scallops flat-side down in the pan, moving each scallop with the tongs in the pan for a few seconds so they do not stick to the bottom. Once all scallops are in the pan, immediately take your stick of butter and put about 2 tablespoons of it into the pan. Move each scallop with your tongs by slightly sliding them back and forth on the pan (this continues to keep them from sticking and allows butter to get to the bottom of scallops to brown them).
- Sprinkle half of your garlic powder and a little salt and pepper onto the scallops and let the bottom brown for about 3 minutes. Once bottom of scallops are golden, use tongs to flip each scallop to brown the other side. Sprinkle the rest of your garlic powder and a little salt and pepper onto the scallops. Let scallops sit in pan for 3 minutes or until other side is golden brown.
- Remove scallops from pan onto a separate plate (no need to place on paper towels we need them soaking in oil and butter to keep them moist and tender; do not cover as the residual heat will overcook them and make them chewy). Now turn heat up to the next level of heat from where you had it (medium-high or high) and put the minced garlic and onions into the pan with the oil and butter the scallops cooked in. Add about a tablespoon of your stick of butter. Once the garlic looks slightly browned and onions slightly caramalized, add cooking wine, chicken bone broth, crushed red pepper flakes (if you choose), and tiny bit of salt and pepper. Let it cook down for about 5 minutes.
- Toss in pasta, the remaining butter, and pasta water. Cover with your pan’s lid and turn heat back down to medium or medium-high. Let liquids cook down for about 7-10 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when the pasta water cooked down makes a nice thin “sauce” that coats the pasta.
- Remove lid and use tongs to gently separate any remaining strands of pasta that are sticking together. Turn heat off. Put spinach (or whatever greens you prefer) into pan and use tongs to toss the spinach with the pasta (we only want the greens to be slightly wilted/soft to preserve nutrients and for texture). Remove pan from heat and squeeze one half of your lemon’s juice into the pan. Place scallops back into pan. Gently toss everything in pan with tongs.
- Plate everything. With other half of the lemon, give final squeeze of juice onto each plate. Garnish with fresh parsley (if you choose) and serve. Enjoy!