This post is sponsored by Heinen’s. As a Heinen’s Contributor I am honored and excited to bring you all so many incredible recipes that will quickly become family favorites!
Pan seared scallops – a seafood that intimidated the heck out of me to cook. Why?! Well, first and foremost they are a little pricier than your average make-at-home meal. So, the thought of screwing up $30 worth of scallops made me sweat. Until I watched a few tutorials on YouTube, because you can learn everything and anything from YouTube! And within 3 minutes, I knew I could not only handle the task, but create a dish worthy of the price tag and more. It’s THAT easy – let me teach you!
Where do I buy scallops?
Listen, you definitely need to make sure you are purchasing not only your scallops, but any raw seafood for that matter from a trusted grocer or fish monger. Thankfully, right down the road we have Heinen’s Grocery, where quality should be their middle name. There are very few places I trust seafood from, Heinens is my number one choice!
A little goes a LONG way …
Surprising to me, you only need 3-4 scallops per guest. Especially if you purchase nice thick, juicy scallops – they are very filling when paired with the right sides. Think, risotto, pasta, salad, purees … etc.
Ready to make a dinner that will not only knock your guests socks off but leave you pinching yourself that YOU, yes YOU made it?!
Prepare the scallops:
Take two kitchen towels, lay one flat, and place all of the scallops onto the towel. Place the remaining towel on top and let all excess moisture be absorbed into the kitchen towels. You want your scallops nice and dry before you pan sear them, this will ensure that you get a golden crust on the scallop!
Once your scallops have been pat dry, it is time to get ready to cook!
This process moves swiftly, so it is best to have a station set up with everything you need to cook scallops successfully!
- Place your scallops onto a small baking sheet, season generously with kosher salt and pepper on both sides.
- Have a tablespoon of unsalted butter per 5 scallops ready to go on your baking dish in a small bowl.
- In a sauté pan, over medium-high heat, pour in two tablespoons of avocado oil. Let the sauté pan and oil heat until it is nice and hot!
- Using tongs, place 5-6 scallops into the hot pan. DO NOT MOVE THEM! Let the scallops sear for 2-3 minutes on one side, once 3 minutes is up – flip the scallop to cook the other side for another 90 seconds.
- Once scallop is cooked through (less than 5-6 minutes total) Push scallops to one side of the pan, add the tablespoon of butter to the other side of the pan to melt. Take a spoon, and baste the melted butter over the seared scallops for an additional minute.
That is it! Remove the scallops from heat, and enjoy with your pairings of choice. You can take your scallops to new heights with adding additional flavor to your scallops during the basting portion of cooking. Try these combinations below to really elevate your dish!
Let’s add some flavor!
Honey Sriracha Scallops
1 Tablespoon Sriracha + 1 Tablespoon Heinen’s Organic Honey + 1 Tablespoon Heinen’s Unsalted Butter
Rosemary + Thyme Scallops
1/2 Tablespoon finely chopped Rosemary + 1/2 Tablespoon finely chopped Thyme + 1 Tablespoon Heinen’s Unsalted Butter
When your scallops are pushed to the side of the sauté pan, add the butter and seasoning of choice to the side of the pan opposite the scallops. Proceed to spoon over the melted butter and seasonings over the scallops for just a minute to add incredible flavor!
It’s just that simple, scallops in a multitude of flavor combinations under 6 minutes!
Want to make these two beautiful puree’s to pair with your scallops?
Beet Puree
1 can Heinen’s Beets + 1/4 cup Heinen’s Cannellini Beans + 1 Roasted Garlic Clove (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder) + Pinch of Kosher Salt + Pinch of Ground Pepper+ 2 Tablespoons Avocado Oil (or Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Sweet Potato Puree
2 Roasted Sweet Potatoes, skin removed + 1/4 cup Heinen’s Cannelini Beans + 1 Roasted Garlic Clove (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder) + 2 Tablespoons Avocado Oil (or Extra Virgin Olive Oil) + 2-3 Tablespoons water (to loosen the puree when blending)
Roasted Garlic
Pre heat oven to 375*
Take an entire bulb of garlic, and turn it onto its side. With a sharp knife, cut the top of the garlic bulb off – exposing the tips of all of the garlic cloves inside. Place garlic bulb onto a square of foil, cover the exposed area of the garlic bulb with olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper. Fold the foil all around the garlic so that it is completely covered. Place onto a small baking dish
Bake at 375* for 45 minutes, remove foil packet from oven and let the roasted garlic cool for 20 minutes before opening the package (it will be piping hot!)
To remove the roasted garlic cloves, simply squeeze the base of the garlic bulb and all of the delicious roasted garlic will slide out and be ready to add to any dish!
You just can’t go wrong!
Whether you choose to make the beet puree, or sweet potato, the process is so simple you will fall in love with creating these delicious puree’s to create a color base for any dish!
Simply put all ingredients for the puree of choice into a ninja blender, or food processor and blend until all ingredients are fully incorporated and the puree is silky smooth! I paired the beet puree with a herbed butter scallop, topped with mirco-greens. The sweet potato puree paired with the sriracha honey scallop, topped with crumbled bacon. Both of which were absolutely delicious!