Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Purée and Lemon Butter
- Savory
- Quick
- French
- Stovetop
- Oven
Golden scallops on a silky cauliflower purée, finished with a lemon butter pan sauce. A bright, elegant starter that comes together in under twenty minutes.
- Total
- 20 min
- Prep 6 · Cook 14
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Medium
You'll practice: Searing · Pan sauce
Instructions
-
Cut the cauliflower into 2 cm florets and put them in a small saucepan with 200 ml water and a pinch of the salt. Cover and boil over high heat until the florets are completely tender when pierced with a knife, about 8 minutes.
~8 min
Boiling in minimal covered water steams and boils at once, so the florets soften fast without turning waterlogged and diluting the purée.
-
While step 1 cooks
While the cauliflower cooks, pat the scallops completely dry with paper towel, season both sides with the remaining salt and the black pepper, and set them on a plate. Zest the lemon and juice half of it, then chop the parsley.
~4 min
Surface moisture must evaporate before browning can start, so drying the scallops is what allows a crust to form rather than steam.
-
Drain the cauliflower, keeping a splash of the cooking water. Blend the cauliflower with the cream, the garlic clove and 2 tbsp of the cooking water until smooth, then taste and adjust the salt. Keep the purée warm.
~3 min
The starchy cooking water loosens the purée without thinning its flavour, and blending while hot gives a smoother, silkier texture.
-
Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat until it shimmers. Lay in the scallops with space between them and sear undisturbed until a deep golden crust forms, about 90 seconds. Turn them and cook 45 to 60 seconds more, until the sides are opaque and the centres reach 63°C. Lift them onto a warm plate.
~3 min
High, even heat and space between the scallops drive Maillard browning, while a short second side keeps the centres tender and just opaque.
Dry scallops are the secret to a golden crust: any moisture left on the surface steams instead of searing, so pat them again right before they hit the pan.
Searing Get the pan shimmering hot, dry the scallops, and leave them undisturbed until a deep golden crust releases on its own. Crowding or fiddling steams them instead of browning.
-
Lower the heat to medium, add the butter to the same pan and let it melt and foam while scraping up the browned bits. Stir in the lemon juice and the lemon zest, then take the pan off the heat.
~1 min
Scraping the browned bits dissolves their flavour into the butter, and gentle heat keeps the sauce emulsified instead of splitting.
Pull the pan off the heat before adding the lemon juice to the butter, so the sauce stays silky rather than splitting.
Pan sauce Melt butter over medium heat and scrape the browned bits into it, then finish off the heat with lemon so the sauce stays glossy and does not split.
-
Spoon the warm cauliflower purée onto two plates, set the scallops on top and spoon the lemon butter over them. Scatter the parsley over the plates and serve straight away.
~1 min
