This dish is as easy to make as it is impressive. Although it requires last minute baking and cooking, most of it can be prepared ahead and the actual cooking and assembly time is very short.
Brown butter sauce is one of the simplest yet tastiest sauces around, and its nutty flavor complements the scallops’ sweetness beautifully. The lemon rounds the buttery flavor, the pistachios enhance the nuttiness and add crunchiness to the sauce, and it all blends wonderfully with the flaky puff pastry case.
For this sauce, I preferred not to clarify the butter, as the browned milk solids in the butter add both flavor and texture to it. If you prefer to use clarified brown butter, check for instructions under TIPS or under THIS RECIPE.
The classic crisp and flaky puff pastry case, or Vol-au-vent, is wonderful for serving dishes with sauce. It can be prepared in many shapes and sizes, and is perfect for desserts as well as for savory dishes.
For best results, use homemade or good quality store bought all-butter puff pastry, keep it cold until ready to use, and bake it as close to serving as possible.
Puff Pastry Cases
Makes: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes; chilling time: 1 hour
Baking time: about 15 minutes; drying time: 5-10 minutes
Ingredients:
2 7”(18cm) x 5.5”(14cm) all-butter puff pastry rectangles
1 egg
1. Place the puff pastry on a lightly floured work space. Whisk the egg and brush the dough all over with it.
2. Cut 4 0.4”(1cm) strips of dough, from the shorter side of each rectangle. Create a rim by placing one strip of dough on each edge of the dough (which now is a square).
Place on a baking pan lined with baking paper and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 400F (205C). Prick the chilled dough with a fork on the corners and the center, and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cases are golden and puffed.
4. Take out of the oven and turn off the oven. Let cool for a minute and then carefully cut around the inside square, making sure not to cut all the way through. Carefully remove the center square and place it on the baking pan, upside down.
Place back in the the oven for 5-10 minutes, to dry the inside of the pastry case and crisp the top layer. Meanwhile, prepare the scallops and sauce.
Scallops with Brown Butter Pistachio Sauce
Makes: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
For the scallops:
10 medium fresh scallops, at room temperature
salt
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter, soft
For the brown butter pistachio sauce:
1.5 oz (40 grams) butter, soft
1/3 cup lightly roasted natural pistachios, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, finely grated
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Dash cayenne
1. The scallops: Wash the scallops and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.
2. Heat the oil and butter on medium-high heat in a frying pan large enough to contain the scallops in one layer. Add the scallops and fry gently until they brown a bit on each side, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove from the pan, place on a warm plate and keep in a warm place until the sauce is done.
4. The sauce: prepare all the ingredients for the sauce.
Melt the butter in a small pan on medium-high heat. Once large bubbles start to appear, lower the heat to medium-low. Keep an eye on the butter at this stage, as it can burn quickly.
When the color turns brown, about 1 minute, add the pistachios, garlic, lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper and cayenne.
Swirl together and pour over the scallops.
5. Fill the pastry cases with the scallops and sauce and serve immediately.
looks deeelish Ronit!!! 😍😍😍
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Thank you Farianti! It was very deeelish indeed. 🙂
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Absolutely scrumptious! You joined scallops and pistachios, with brown butter and puff pastry….. hit this one out of the park! 😉
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Thank you Sally! I was quite happy with the results and I’m glad you feel the same about it. 🙂
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this looks amazing!
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Thank you! I’m glad to have discovered your blog via your visit here. It’s lovely! 🙂
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The way yo’ve described the brown butter sauce leaves no doubt that I want to taste it. I have bookmarked the recipe. Thank you very much.
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I’m glad to hear! 🙂 I hope you’ll enjoy the results and will be happy to have your feedback. 🙂
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I love puff pastry! This presentation is like getting a scallop gift to open!
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Thank you Michele! I’m glad you liked the idea. It does look like a gift box to open, and what a tasty gift it is! 🙂
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בדיוק מתאים לשבועות חג שמח
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בכל זאת יש בזה חמאה… חג שמח גם לך, מגיב אנונימי! 🙂
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delicious recipe! congratulations! I have to make it for my husband!Thank you!
Simi
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Thank you Simi! I’m glad you liked it and hope you’ll enjoy the results. 🙂
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Wow, Ronit…this is an impressive dish. I love that the ingredient list is fairly short, yet the flavors sound fabulous! The sauce sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the scallops. I’m thinking mini pastry cases with one scallop each would make a perfect appetizer. Thanks for sharing, yet another, great recipe. 🙂
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Thank you Nancy! Glad to see you back!:)
The brown butter sauce is really great with scallops, and I was happy with the pistachios in it. The pastry can indeed be made in any size or shape you want it. I’ve recently made small triangles that were perfect for one scallop, but alas it was not the right place to take photos…
Hope you’ll enjoy the results. I’ll be happy to hear about it. 🙂
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So innovative Ronit making pastry cases! I have to admit I have never cooked scallops before but this recipe is tempting!
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Thank you Indu!
The pastry cases are fun to make and are tasty in their own right. Scallops are my favorite seafood. They have such a fresh, sweetish flavor and wonderful texture. I’m sure you’ll love them once you’ll try. Just remember they need a very short cooking time, as otherwise the texture can turn rubbery.
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Ronit I have had scallops outside just never tried them. yes some places I have had it they were a little rubbery! I will try your recipe sometime! thanks
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Oh, then in this case you will enjoy the home cooked even more, because even in the best places it still takes time until they are served, and at home you can have them right out of the pan and the difference is huge! 🙂
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I love the combination and presentation, thank you for sharing !
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Thank you Lea! I’m glad to hear. 🙂
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Very interesting combination. I love puff pastry and it is high time that the vol-au-vent makes its appearance again. Thank you.
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I totally agree. I think Vol-au-vent lost its glory when commercial margarine-base puff pastry became more popular than the all-butter original It’s time to bring back the original! 🙂
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The browned butter pistachio sauce must be a wonderful flavor enhancer for the scallops.
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It all come out really well together. Worthy of sharing. 🙂
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Love the puff pastry and the buttery-pistachio scallops looks incredible.
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Than you Jessica. It was a very enjoyable buttery experience! 🙂
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It looks awesome! I love scallops.
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Thank you Sheryl.
Scallops are a favorite of mine as well, and this dish is on the top of my list. 🙂
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this looks amazing!
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Thank you! It was very tasty! 🙂
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Ronit this is great! You create something very tempting and original!
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Thank you Margherita! I’m glad to hear you liked the idea.:)
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Wow! I’m impressed! Fantastic recipe! I wish I could have it for lunch!
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Thank you MIla! I’m glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
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You’re welcome! It is really amazing!
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Love it! The pistachio sauce it’s a really nice touch!!
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Thank you Serena. The pistachios really added a lot to the dish. 🙂
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this looks tasty and fun to make; thanks for stopping by
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Thank you! 🙂
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Ronit I’ve been looking at this recipe for some time now, it’s the pastry…you think I could replace the scallops and add some mince meat instead? You know I wanted to use this pastry for something more “French”, sort of meat wrapped with pastry. Oh my boyfriend would be so happy if I made something like that. It’s a great recipe you shared here!
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The pastry “box” can be filled with just about anything you have in mind, including fruits or pastry cream.
I would cook the meat separately and combine all in the last minute, as I have done here with the scallops. This way the pastry stays nice and crunchy.
Good luck and I’ll be happy to hear about your experiments. 🙂
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Wow! Beautiful!!
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Thank you! 🙂
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