Brown butter scallops with sunchoke purée and charred pear

One of my favorite things when hosting is serving a dish that feels like something you’d get in a restaurant, but is actually extremely easy to make behind the scenes. This dish is exactly that. These scallops take less than five minutes to prepare and cook, the sunchoke purée is quite hands-off, and the charred pear is so simple, but adds a ton of flavor – and ties into the pear notes in The Sylviane. I hope you enjoy making this recipe and wowing your guests!

• 1.5 lb sea scallops (about 20-24)
• 1.5 lb sunchokes
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Bosc or Anjou pears, ripe but still firm
• 1 lemon
• Kosher salt
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, like avocado oil
• 2 tbsp chives (optional – for garnish)
• Flaky sea salt (optional – for garnish)

Directions:

1. Make the purée
   a. Peel the sunchokes and cut into 1/2 in pieces
   b. Put in a medium saucepan, cover with water, add 1 tsp of kosher salt and bring
   to a boil, then turn to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until fork tender,
   then drain
   c. Add the cooked sunchokes, 2 tbsp unsalted butter, and 2 tbsp heavy cream to
   a blender and blend until smooth. Add additional cream as needed, until
   texture is silky, but not runny
   d. Taste then add salt as needed
   e. I like to keep the purée in my blender until I’m ready to serve as I find this
   keeps it warm enough – but depending on your timing, you can also move to a
   saucepan over low heat to keep warm while you cook the rest
2. Char the pears
   a. Leaving skin on, cut each pear in half lengthwise, core, then cut each half into
   three wedges, lengthwise. Pat all wedges dry (this is how you get a good sear!)
   b. Heat a tbsp of neutral oil (I use avocado oil) in a cast iron or stainless steel
   skillet on medium-high heat
   c. Once hot, add pear wedges, cut side down and sear for 2 minutes, or until
   nicely browned. Flip to the other side of the wedge, and sear another 1-2
   minutes
   d. Remove once browned on each side, and sprinkle with salt and a tiny bit of
   lemon juice
3. Cook the scallops
   a. Remove muscle on scallops, if present, then gently pat extremely dry. Salt
   generously all over with kosher salt
   b. Heat a tbsp of neutral oil (again, I use avocado oil) in a cast iron or stainless
   steel skillet on medium-high heat. You want this pan super hot!
   c. Once hot, add scallops, ensuring enough space between them (you can cook
   in batches if you need)
   d. Sear without touching them until a brown crust forms, around 1-2 minutes
   depending on your pan and stove
   e. Flip and immediately add 2 tbsp of unsalted butter. Sear the other side for
   another minute, then tilt pan and spoon the browned butter over the scallops.
   Transfer to a pan grate or plate
4. Plate!
   a. Spoon purée onto a plate then arrange scallops and 2-3 pear wedges on top
   of purée
   b. Garnish with sliced chives, lemon juice and flaky sea salt. You can also drizzle
   some browned butter on top for extra flavor

Recipe Notes:

• Sunchokes are an amazing, unique ingredient that peaks October through April, but
  they’re not always stocked in every grocery store. You can check your local farmers
  market, specialty grocery stores or stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts do sell them
  intermittently. If you can’t find them, no worries! You can substitute for another root
  vegetable – parsnip would be my first recommendation.
• The purée can be made ahead of time and still taste great! Simply reheat in a
  saucepan on low, adding a splash of milk to loosen it if you need.
• The key to getting the best crust on seared scallops is getting them as dry as
  possible. If I purchase scallops earlier in the day, I like to dry them and put them on a
  pan grate uncovered in the fridge, vs letting them sit in the bag in moisture. This is
  absolutely not necessary, but definitely helps!
• Searing scallops for two minutes total can sound too short, but they quickly get
  rubbery when overcooked, so I prefer to cook based on how they look (brown crust
  on each side) versus timing. It all really depends on your stove and size of scallops.
  Remember, they continue to cook a bit after you pull them off the pan as well