What a surprise to receive a bag of beautiful blood oranges in my CSA box in mid August! These gems aren’t usually around till December and they make some extremely appetizing dishes. Here Blood Oranges and Scallops team up for an amazing meal served over polenta toasts.
I love the combination of rich tender scallops with citrus that has a little punch so this recipe hits the mark. It is simple to assemble and extremely quick to prepare. Add a side salad and dessert and you have a wonderful menu for any special occasion!
Serves 3
A wonderful citrus salsa teams up with tender seared scallops and polenta for a glamorous meal!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil, divided
- 2 blood orange
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
- 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt
- Pepper
- 12 large scallops
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- Polenta (ready made in a sleeve pack)
Instructions
- Take the zest of one blood orange and place it in a bowl.
- Set a strainer over the bowl and peel and segment the oranges. Squeeze the juice from the leftover membranes into the bowl.
- Cut the segments into chunks and add to the bowl.
- Add the red onion, cilantro, lemon juice, and lightly toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat remaining oil on medium high.
- Slice polenta into 1/4″ thick slices and pan fry them until toasty. (Use 2 or 3 slices per person and save the rest for another recipe) Drain on a paper towel.
- Pat scallops dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Spread sugar on a small plate and dip one side of each scallop into the sugar before placing it into the saute pan.
- Cook for 3 minutes, until the scallops are nicely seared. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the scallops opaque almost all the way through (cut one with a knife to check).
- Remove from the pan and serve over polenta cakes, topped with salsa.
Notes
- I made several changes from the original recipe. I increased the orange, lessened the amount of onion and oil, added polenta as a base for the scallops and corrected some instructions.
- The key to getting nicely seared scallops is to ensure they are very dry and to cook them in a very small amount of oil. Just enough to keep them from sticking, but not enough to steam them. Refrain from moving them until they are ready to be turned or their caramelized crust will turn into a slippery sauce!
- For the preparations of the blood orange segments, I cut a small slice off of the top and bottom of the orange and then cut the skin and pith off by standing the orange on end and slicing down in strips. I then used the knife to separate the segments from the membranes. It’s much easier this way as blood oranges are usually smaller and more delicate. You can then break the segments into pieces with your fingers.
Adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride
(Printable recipe can be found in my recipe index under Main Entrees)
2 opinions on “Blood Oranges and Scallops Team Up for an Amazing Meal!”
Comment posting is disabled at the moment.
Wow…sounds delish! I love scallops and don’t have them too often due to price and nobody but me in my family likes them. I don’t usually like anything sweet with my meals, as I feel sweet is for desert. But this sounds amazing and I will have to try it…yum I love this type of delicate food! Thanks again for an awesome recipe!
Jan, the best thing about scallops is that they are sold individually so you can just purchase 4 for yourself and treat yourself to a wonderful meal! Use the rest of the salsa over fish, chicken or pork for the rest of your family.