By Mark Bittman
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- 5(733)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Featured in: Scallops With Cream and Basil
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 6tablespoons butter
- 12sea scallops
- Salt and pepper
- ¼cup chopped shallots
- 1teaspoon slivered garlic
- Pinch crushed red chili flakes
- ½cup dry white wine
- ¾cup heavy cream
- 20basil leaves, cut in thin ribbons
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
393 calories; 34 grams fat; 21 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 7 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 428 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Put 4 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium-high heat. When foam subsides, add scallops; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides, adjusting heat so they brown nicely; they need not cook through. Remove them to a plate.
Step
2
Turn off heat, cool pan a bit and wipe out. Add remaining butter over medium heat. When it melts, add shallots, garlic, chili flakes and a little more salt and pepper. Cook about 2 minutes, or until shallots soften.
Step
3
Add wine, raise heat a bit, and let bubble away for a minute or so until reduced by about half; add cream and repeat. When liquid is thick, return scallops and juices to pan.
Step
4
Cook for about a minute, stirring in half the basil, until scallops are just firm. Taste and adjust seasoning, transfer to small bowls or plates with a bit of sauce, garnish with remaining basil, and serve.
Ratings
5
out of 5
733
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Cooking Notes
Andrew Rudin
To get the scallops to properly brown, make sure they are dry.... I place them on a paper towel and then turn them over to make sure the surface area is not wet. And yeah... what's the point of wiping out the pan. Certainly seems unnecessary.
Scargod
I used Aleppo pepper flakes, no shallots and toasted garlic granules. The white wine was a citrusy Sauvignon Blanc from NZ. It was great dish. I had it with Cipollenes, small, red potatoes and sugar snaps.
I recommend not over-browning the scallops. I did not wipe out pan. Once the browned, stuck bits are softened by the liquids, I scrape them loose from the bottom of the skillet. It adds flavor and color.
michelle
This is delicious! I have a milk allergy and substituted the cream with plain, unsweetened coconut milk.
ND
I made this exactly as written.Be still my heart!
Patrick Scott
This is a delicious and easy recipe. For fun, I also topped it with a few bacon bits and parmesan cheese. Next time, I would like to throw in a few shrimp as well and serve it all over a small amount of pasta.
Bahram Keramati
Delicious as it is. No need for wiping the pan before adding the shallots. A great addition is mushrooms. I tried sh*takes, about 1 cup sliced and added to the shallots after about a minute. It was fantastic with some plain linguine.
ECB
Insanely simple and delicious. Agree with others - no need to wipe the pan out after the scallops cook. Tripled the sauce to serve over pasta - could just have doubled but leftovers were great!
Margaret
It's mid December in a pandemic, so no basil for me. I omitted the basil and used about a quarter cup of lemon juice instead of the wine. I wanted to give sauce a little flavor and I have had lemon cream sauce with scallops before. It was unbelievably delicious, even the family member who isn't a big scallop fan cleaned his plate.
Tish
This is one of my favorite dishes. It also works well with shrimp.
mcp
I was very careful to dry the scallops first so that they would brown nicely. I did not move them for three minutes and checked to see how they looked before turning, the other side got just one minute. I served with the brown side up because I did not want to overcook.My scallops had been frozen and produced liquid when they were defrosted overnight in the refrigerator. I saved the liquid and added it with the vermouth when making the sauce. Excellent will have again, fine cold as leftovers.
Keyser Röle
I ran the recipe through my Atkins Meal Planner to get this (very basic) nutritional info for 2 (TWO) servings:
Net Carbs: 7.7
Protein: 32.5
Fat: 67.5
Calories: 823
Fiber: .05
This is totally on my weekend menu - Thanks Mark.
Todd Hays
From someone: To get the scallops to properly brown, make sure they are dry.... I place them on a paper towel and then turn them over to make sure the surface area is not wet.
js
Delicious!!!
T. Dobbs
Excellent recipe even with substitutions. Onions instead of shallots (shallots are better), half and half instead of heavy cream and fresh basil from a tube instead of leaves. All good! Delicious meal with a fresh green salad.
grandma carol
Excellent, no changes
Virginia
A delicious recipe. I added roasted cherry tomatoes and would recommend either more acid or less cream. It was extremely rich.
Cody
Amazingly delicious! I added a little nutmeg to bring out the cream flavor. A little trick I learned for Alfredo and it was amazing. Would make again with some pasta.
Mara
This was spectacular - kicked off our christmas weekend with this and it felt special. I did not have basil so substituted tarragon and served with roasted fennel and wild rice which were great compliments. I can't wait to try it with basil.
Anne S.
This was excellent. I didn't have basil leaves and I sautéed a whole garlic clove with the butter, then removed it. I did have to wipe out the pan after sautéing the scallops as the butter browned. I added the wine, then cream and extra salt and pepper. I cooked a bag of frozen peas with the raviolis, strained, and added to the cream sauce.
Marguerite
Sometimes a recipe can serve as inspiration, waiting to be something other than itself. Grill some salmon filets, follow the sauce recipe from sautéing the shallots to thickening with butter- and flour-thickened whole milk (because no cream in the house). Sauce the fish (removing skin) and finish off with a flourish of basil and chopped fresh dill (because of dill in the house). Serve with steamed white rice and peas. Don’t forget the wine.
CJ
This was great served with basmati rice. Easy and fast but kind of fancy too. Will make again for sure
Nacko
Served over linguine. Doubled the sauce. Between the butter and heavy cream, I think I gained 10lbs.!!!!!!! Sooooo gooood.
De Gustibus
Delicious as is and with a few minor changes and tweaks it is easily transformed into a lovely, subtle Thai basil and coconut milk curry. I love recipes that effortlessly jump from one culture to another.
JF
This is one of my favorite NYT recipes ever. I agree with the comments that the browned bits add, and that's the way I do it now. I generally like a little heat but for scallops I think skipping the red pepper flakes is marginally better. This is a real hit with my family, which includes vegetarians who draw the line above scallops. Simple, quick, and delicious.
Kluski
My butter browned quite a bit - difficult to see in a dark pan. Still, it was absolutely delicious.
my notes
Really good, my whole family loved it. I made it following the recipe, and the sauce was delicious. I used frozen scallops. I put them in the refrigerator the night before to thaw and dried them off with a paper towel prior to cooking. I served the scallops and sauce over mashed potatoes. Will definitely make this again.
Gwen
1st time I have ever left a review but I was so incredibly disappointed with this scallop recipe that I had to. This recipe was a real waste of fresh, locally sourced, beautiful scallops. I know that they were great because I cooked 1/2 of them simply browned in butter and they were heavenly. Then I made this recipe and the sauce was so pungent and unctuous that you couldn't taste the delicate scallops at all, and that was without adding the basil! How this gets a 5 star rating is beyond me-
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