I’ve been craving citrus lately, maybe it’s because January is such a cold and gloomy month and all that colorful citrus just brightens my day, I don’t know but I’m sure loving all the different varieties that are available right now. I recently made this salsa using my favorite cara cara, blood and navel oranges, the vibrant flavors pair wonderfully with sweet and buttery sea scallops, it was the perfect match, but if you’re not a fan of scallops I’m sure any firm white fish would work just as well.
The scallops are crusted with finely chopped pistachio’s, a little butter and parsley, and I can only describe the two combinations as luxurious, and both the salsa and the scallops are ridiculously simple to make!
You can make your salsa earlier in the day and have that all ready to go, it takes a little time cutting the segments and removing all the pith, but other than that this whole meal comes together very quickly.
I only buy dry packed sea scallops and I still press them on paper towel to make sure they’re as dry as possible, dry scallops guarantee a beautiful sear.
After your scallops are seared and finished cooking, which is only a couple of minutes, you press your nut mixture on top and spoon that lovely citrus salsa onto the plate.
This is an elegant, light, scrumptious meal, like fine dining at home, a contender for Valentine’s Day for sure!
I can’t wait to make this again.
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- CITRUS SALSA
- 3 different varieties of orange citrus like cara cara, mineola, navel, blood orange, cut into small segments with pith removed.
- 2 or 3 tablespoons of red onion, finely chopped
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- half a clove of garlic, grated on a microplane
- a small bunch of chopped parsley
- a dash of red pepper flakes, optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil to loosen the salsa up
- PISTACHIO TOPPING
- half cup of pistachios, I used the toasted ones from Trader Joes, chop them up small in mini food processor or by hand
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound SEA SCALLOPS, dry packed, padded dry with paper towel and beard removed
- additional butter for searing scallops, season with salt and pepper
- In a bowl mix together all salsa ingredients, set aside.Salsa can be made ahead of time.
- For the pistachio topping, chop nuts and place into a small bowl. Melt tablespoon of butter then toss in the parsley, stir, then add butter mixture into the chopped pistachios stirring well to coat all of the nuts completely.
- For the scallops, heat your pan nice and hot, do not use a non-stick pan.
- Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter or a mixture of olive oil and butter to the hot pan, when fat begins to smoke then add scallops, make sure they are not touching each other.
- Do not disturb until the underside is browned and crisp around 2 to 4 minutes then turn over gently with tongs and cook another 2 minutes on the other side,remove to serving plate.
- Pat the nut mixture on top of each scallop.
- Spoon citrus salsa all around, serve immediately and enjoy!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
