how2heroes » Seared Scallops w/ Orange Reduction & Fennel

Seafood » Seared Scallops w/ Orange Reduction & Fennel

Can't you picture a dish like this being served on the coast of the Mediterranean? With fresh scallops hand-picked at the docks, and bright green spinach and fragrant anise-scented fennel purchased at the farmer's market. Take your guests to the coast of Italy with this light, healthy scallop dish.

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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