Today we have one of my favorite dinners, our Seared Scallops over Roasted Sweet Potato Puree with Pickled Mustard Seeds! Scallops are probably one of my favorite proteins and I think they’re really underrated! I love them so much because they’re sweet, mild and meaty, especially if you get ‘jumbo’ or ‘U10’ (which just means under 10 scallops within 1 pound) sea scallops. They’re incredibly easy to prepare, as the hardest thing about cooking scallops is leaving them alone to do their thing. Seriously though, once scallops hit a hot skillet, all you have to do is wait until they’re ready to be flipped, which is when they pull up easily from the skillet. If they dont, just wait another minute or so, or turn your heat up higher and they should be ready to go! Aside from not touching the scallops while they cook, high heat is very important. You really want to get a nice, brown ‘crust’ onto the scallops. The heat will also help the scallops lift from the skillet easily.
The sweet potato puree in this dish is silky smooth and goes really well with the scallops. Now the pickled mustard seeds are a total game changer for this dish AND in general! They’re incredibly easy to make, store for a long time in the fridge and are delicious on a variety things! If you’re not too into scallops, you should definitely still make these mustard seed. They’re such a versatile condiment, thst really adds a nice pop of flavor to tons of dishes! Enjoy! xx, Jenny
Seared Scallops over Roasted Sweet Potato Puree with Pickled Mustard Seeds
INGREDIENTS
pickled mustard seeds
- 1 cup yellow mustard seeds, rinsed and drained
- 1 ¾ cups plus, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, divided
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
roasted sweet potato puree
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 2 large sweet potatoes, cleaned and pricked all over with a fork
- ½ to ⅔ cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
scallops
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 6 (U10) sea scallops, abductor muscles removed crescent shaped muscle on the side of scallops, should come off easily
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pickled mustard seeds: Pour mustard seeds, 1 1/2 cups vinegar and salt into a saucepan and allow mixture to sit for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
- Transfer mixture to the stove, add sugar, honey and turmeric and simmer over medium-low heat, for about 20 to 25 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove mixture from heat and stir in remaining vinegar. Taste and adjust seasonings. Transfer to a jar and store until ready to use.
- Roasted sweet potato puree: Preheat oven to 375˚F. Place sweet potatoes directly onto center rack and roast until fork tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Remove sweet potatoes from oven and cool until able to handle.
- While sweet potato cools, place a medium skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons butter. Add shallots and garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to well of blender.
- Peel potatoes and add flesh into the well of a blender with shallots and garlic, discard skins.
- Add heavy cream to blender and puree and season with salt and pepper. With the motor running, add remaining butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated and potatoes and silky smooth. Adjust seasonings.
- Scallops: Pat scallops dry and season with salt and pepper. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Once oil is hot, add 1 tablespoons butter and scallops.
- Allow scallops to sear, untouched to develop a nice, brown crust, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Flip each scallop (they should pull away from the pan very easily or they are not ready yet) and sear the other side for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add remaining tablespoon butter to skillet, tilt pan away from you and spoon melted butter over each scallop a few times. Remove from heat and adjust seasonings.
- Serving: Spread sweet potato puree onto plates and top with scallops. Drizzle a small amount of pan juices over each scallop and top with a small spoonful of pickled mustard. Serve.
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Amazing recipe! Family favorite now.
What did you garnish it with
Hi! It’s pickled mustard seeds, which is in the recipe!
Absolutely amazing dish. Lick the plate good. Thank you for a keeper of a recipe!
Wonderful! I didn’t have heavy cream, so I subbed chicken broth and it was still delicious! Also didn’t have mustard seeds, so subbed crumbled bacon for the sweet/salty profile. Great combination of flavors – thanks for sharing!
thank you for this recipe, for two reasons, I absolutely love sweet potatoes so a sweet potato puree works well, but also great tip and reminder about cooking scallops, agreed! Also yes only the large ones!
So glad you like this one, scallops (done right) are truly one of my favorite things to eat!
The recipe title indicates that there is a butternut squash puree but the recipe calls for sweet potatoes. Would the recipe be the same if you subbed out the sweet potatoes for butternut squash?
Lol, yikes! It has been updated! And yes! You could use it in the same way! Might need to adjust the butter + cream a bit, but should work!
This is making me drool!