Scallops with Carrot Purée, Asparagus, and Pistou

The flavors of Spring have arrived with lighter entrées like Scallops with Carrot Purée, Asparagus, and Pistou.  The Spring produce is overflowing at the farmers markets with the tastiest sweet carrots, bundles of asparagus, herbs and spring onions – just to name a fraction of the bounty to be had right now at the farmer’s market.  The change of seasons has steered me to lighter meals paired with lighter refreshing wine choices.

Paging through cookbooks looking for my new Spring season inspiration, I came across a recipe for halibut with carrot purée, asparagus, and pistou from The A.O.C. Cookbook.  The photo of the dish along with the recipe ingredients caught my eye, my attention, and my urgent desire to make this ASAP.  I did and paired it with a Grüner Veltliner as suggested – it was heavenly!  I knew this was a food and wine pairing I wanted to share on Always Ravenous.  As often happens, when I went back for halibut in this case, WholeFoods nor Costco had any halibut in stock.  Luckily, Costco had beautiful scallops and the recipe would now be, Scallops with Carrot Purée, Asparagus, and Pistou. The substitution of scallops for halibut still makes this a perfect wine pairing with Grüner Veltliner.  The weight of the dish is in balance with the Grüner Veltliner.  The acidity and citrus notes in the wine are a nice contrast to the sweetness of the carrot purée and scallops.  The herbaceous notes in the wine, echo the herb pistou sauce and earthy flavors of the asparagus. See my tasting notes from the previous post. 2015 Leth Grüner Veltliner Steinagrund Tasting Notes  Cheers!

Scallops with Carrot Purée, Asparagus, and Pistou

Print Recipe

A light Spring entrée to pair with a refreshing crisp Grüner Veltliner

Course Main Dishes

Servings 6

Author adapted from "The A.O.C. Cookbook" Suzanne Goin

Ingredients

• 18 Atlantic sea scallops about 2 oz. each
• 1 lemon zested and reserved for juicing
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons Italian parsley coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup spring onions sliced
• 3/4 lb. thin asparagus sliced on the diagonal into one inch size pieces
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 recipe Carrot Purée recipe below
• 1 recipe Pistou recipe below
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Season the scallops with the grated lemon zest, i tablespoon thyme leaves and parsley. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Remove the scallops from the refrigerator 15 minutes before cooking.
• Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Season the scallops with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the pan and wait for 1 minute.
• Add the scallops to the pan, making sure they are not touching (if the pan is not large enough, do in two batches). Sear the scallops for 1 1/2 minutes per side. Scallops should have a 1/4 inch golden crust on each side and still translucent in the center. Transfer to a rack and cover with foil.
• Heat a clean large sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive, wait for a moment for the oil to warm up. Add the spring onion slices, asparagus, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a few grinds of pepper and the 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves. Sauté for about 3 minutes, stirring until onions are translucent. Add 3 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of water. . Stirring until liquid comes to a simmer. Remove from heat and add a squeeze of lemon juice.

Carrot Purée and Pistou

Print Recipe

Make the carrot purée and pistou first and set aside. Carrot purée can be warmed up before plating with the scallops and vegetables.

Author adapted from "The A.O.C. Cookbook" Suzanne Goin

Ingredients

• Carrot Purée
• 2 lb. carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch size pieces
• handful of basil stems use leaves for pistou
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup white onion diced
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1. Steam the carrots with the basil stems for about 20 minutes or until tender.
• 2. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 1 minute. Add the 1/2 cup olive oil and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the onions for about 5 minutes or until translucent stirring occasionally. Add the steamed carrots and cook for about 8 minutes or until carrots are lightly caramelized.
• 3. Purée the mixture in a food processor until smooth. With the motor running gradually add 1/4 cup olive oil process until incorporated. Set aside.
• Pistou
• 1 small clove garlic
• 1 cup basil tightly packed
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1. In a mini food processor process garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the basil and parsley process to blend. Slowly add olive oil and blend again to combine. Set aside

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