Seared Scallops w/ Orange Reduction & Fennel
Serves 1 as an appetizer
You can easily double this recipe to make an entree size portion.
Ingredients
- canola oil (for coating the bottom of your pans)
- 3-4 sea scallops, seasoned with salt & pepper
- 1 large handful baby spinach
- 1 large handful chopped fennel
- 3 tbsp butter (1 for searing scallops, 2 for orange reduction sauce)
- 8 oz fresh-squeezed orange juice
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3-4 raspberries for garnish
How-to
You will be multi-tasking with 2 pans in order to have all the components ready at the same time. Very easy though. Don't worry!
- Preheat oven to 375º
- Season scallops with salt and pepper
- Add canola oil to coat bottom of 2 pans on medium-high flame. You will use one pan to sear the scallops and the other to cook the fennel and spinach
- Add fennel to one pan (avoid flame flare-ups up by patting dry the fennel)
- Add handful of baby spinach and a pinch of salt to that same pan. Cook for a couple of minutes (toss a couple of times with tongs or with a flip of the wrist like Andrea)
- In the other hot pan, sear the scallops. Cook them about 3 minutes each side until browned and semi-firm (don't overcook or the scallops will get tough)
- Place the spinach and fennel in the middle of a plate and garnish with raspberries on the outer corners
- Finish the scallops in the oven - 375º degrees for 1-2 minutes
- Pour out the leftover butter and oil from the scallop pan, place back on the stove on a medium-high flame and pour the orange juice into the pan
- Add 2 tbsp butter to the pan
- Reduce orange juice sauce until it's thick but not yet brown (you can transfer the sauce to another hot pan if you want to speed up the reduction process)
- Plate the scallops on top of the fennel and spinach, pour the sauce over the plated dish and serve