Sea Scallops With Brown Butter, Capers and Lemon
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 12fresh sea scallops
- Sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼cup olive oil
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1tablespoon finely chopped shallot
- 2tablespoons salt-packed capers, rinsed of excess salt
- Juice of half a lemon
- ⅓cup (packed) flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
255 calories; 23 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 400 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Pat scallops dry with paper towels, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan or nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat, and add oil. After 30 seconds, add scallops; do not crowd pan, work in batches if necessary. Sauté until well browned, about 2 minutes, then turn and cook other side. When second side is dark golden, transfer scallops to a platter; cover and keep warm.
- Step 2
Return sauté pan to heat, add butter, and cook until it begins to foam and turn golden. Add shallot and capers, sauté for 1 minute, then add lemon juice (being careful to avoid sputtering butter) and chopped parsley.
- Step 3
To serve, place 3 scallops on each of 4 warmed plates. Spoon butter, shallots and capers over scallops, and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
I should know better, but it doesn't say remove the oil before you return the pan to the heat. You should because butter doesn't brown with the oil.
Instead of putting the oil directly into the pan, I'd toss the towel-dried scallops in a plastic bag with a 3-4 tbsp. of olive oil. Use tongs to place the lightly coated scallops on a plate, season with salt and pepper, then place in hot skillet to carmelize. That prevents the sputtery mess, and cuts down on fat. When melting the butter for the sauce, you can add a bit more olive oil (and even a smidgeonette of dry vermouth). Then finish the recipe as written
I've been cooking this since it first appeared with No changes (unless I'm out of salt cured capers) since it's perfect as is, though I do reduce the amount of olive oil because the scallops spit furiously. I treat it as an entree, doing 4-5 scallops per person, and usually accompany it with basmati rice and petite peas, but it's also fabulous with parsnip puree. This recipe was my daughters' very happy introduction to sea scallops.
I used a nonstick pan & the oil but my scallops still got stuck to the pan. What am I doing wrong? I can never seem to get that golden brown color I’m looking for.
Off the charts good. Easy and quick.
I had all at the ingredients ready to prepare this dish plus asparagus. My housemate took it from there. She tweaked the recipe to include asparagus and some rice noodles. The scallops were cooked separately in butter. She sautéed the shallots, and proceeded to use the lemon, butter, olive oil and capers to cook the asparagus. Cooked some rice noodles and drained. The asparagus was served over the rice noodles along with the scallops. The recipe had so much flavor and easy to prepare.
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