Scallops and Arugula with Brown Butter Caper Sauce

Scallops and Arugula with Brown Butter Caper Sauce

This blog has a new tagline as of this weekend – “simple, but not ordinary, seasonal recipes”. I’m pretty excited about it. It’s new and pretty and seems to fit just like that perfect sundress that you want to wear every single day. Hopefully, I don’t grow tired of it but I’ll have to wear it around for a little bit before I know.

Speaking of new there is also a new recipe tag for recipes with 5 ingredients or less. Look to the right sidebar for a list of tags or select the tag at the bottom of the recipe to see recipes with similar features. I’ve still had to go through and tag many of my recipes but it is a good start.

This recipe of “Scallops and Arugula with Brown Butter Caper Sauce” clocks in at 7 ingredients (not counting olive oil and salt) so unfortunately it will not make the cut. It does HOWEVER fit into the category of 20 minutes or less. That’s a new category I just came up with but I like it.

We enjoyed the scallops on a perfect summer night. The kind where the warm, late evening sun drenches everything and there are extra long shadows and extra glasses of wine enjoyed on the porch. Since then it’s pretty much done nothing but rain, but looking at these photos reminds me of perfect summer nights. COMEONCHICAGO. Stop being stubborn and embrace summer.

Scallops and Arugula with Brown Butter Caper Sauce aren’t cheap, especially the dry, wild large ones, so this is a special kind of dinner. But that doesn’t mean they need a lot of fuss. And the richness, briny flavor of capers fried in brown butter is the perfect sauce.

This recipe is modified from the New York Times

Seared Scallops and Arugula with Brown Butter Sauce

Prep time 10 mins

Cook time 10 mins

Total time 20 mins

Author: Nicola

Recipe type: Non-Vegetarian Main

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 3-4 ounces of arugula
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 scallops (1/2-1 lb, depending on size)
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon diced shallot
• 2 tablespoons capers
• ½ cup chopped herbs (I used parsley, but oregano, basil, tarragon would all be lovely)
• juice of ½ lemon

Instructions:

1. Lay out arugula (washed well and dry) on a large platter. Alternatively, divide it between individual plates.
2. Pat scallops down until completely dry and season with salt and pepper.
3. Add olive oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the scallops and sear for approximately two minutes on each side until golden brown. The scallops will stick to the pan and once they release they are ready to be flipped. Remove scallops from the pan and set aside.
4. Lower heat to medium and add butter to the saucepan. Cook until it begins to foam then add shallot, and capers, and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and add lemon and herbs.
5. Layer scallops on top of arugula and pour browned butter sauce on top.

Notes:

Wine Pairing: We enjoyed this with a bottle of Cremant (french sparkling wine)
– Look for dry large scallops. This ensures that they are free of added water and preservatives. They will also sear much better and have better flavor.
– With this recipe, you’ll want to make sure you have all your ingredients measured, chopped, and ready to go before starting on the scallops.
– This recipe could be easily doubled but don’t crowd the pan while the scallops are being seared.
– Be careful with the seasoning on this recipe because capers can be quite salty on their own.

• Scallops and Arugula with Brown Butter Caper Sauce