Pan Seared Scallops with Homemade Herbed Garlic Butter
So flavorful and easy! Perfect for Sunday night dinner with the family.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Seared Scallops:
1.5 lbs fresh scallops
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbsp flour (substitute for gluten free blend, if desired)
Herbed Garlic Butter:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temp
3 garlic cloves
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2/3 – ¾ cup fresh herbs (I like a combination of sage, chives and thyme)
Zest of one lemon
Directions:
Ensure butter is at room temperature. Ideally, you want it soft to the touch. Using a food processor, combine all ingredients for herbed garlic butter. Pulse until well combined. Butter and herbs should be nicely incorporated with no large pieces of herbs remaining.
Using a spatula, scrape butter out of food processor and place on sheet of wax paper. Using the ends and sides of wax paper, roll butter back into a log. Tape or fold ends down. Place in freezer until ready to use.
Any extra butter can be stored in a Ziploc bag and placed in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
Lay scallops out, patting both sides dry with paper towel. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Add 2-3 Tbsp olive oil to an oven safe skillet. Heat to high heat. Once oil starts to slightly smoke, turn heat down to medium high heat and add scallops to pan. Be careful to leave room in between scallops so that they get a nice sear in cooking. If you add them too close, the scallops will steam.
Around your scallops, add a few pats of homemade herbed garlic butter. Cook scallops 2-3 minutes on first side. Watch your time closely as you don’t want to overcook! Flip and cook 2-3 minutes on second side.
Remove scallops from pan and set aside. Deglaze by adding 1/4-1/2 cup white wine to pan. Using a whisk, break up an bits from the bottom of the pan and combine with white wine. Add 2-3 Tbsp flour and whisk more to combine, ensuring no clumps of flour remain. Add extra pat of homemade herb butter to pan and whisk.
Plate by serving scallops over orzo, mashed potatoes or creamy polenta. Drizzle deglazed sauce over scallops.