Tender, anise scented sautéed sea scallops, floating in a sauce of creamy, herbaceous green pea purée. Quick, simple, and elegant as a starter for a special meal, or for a quick and easy mid-week dinner served with noodles, potatoes, or rice and a side salad. Enjoy!

Anise Scented Scallops with Pea Purée
Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 main courses

Ingredients:

• 12 sea scallops (preferably fresh or “dry” frozen, not chemically treated)

• 2 cups frozen green peas

• 1 shallot chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic chopped

• ¼ cup mixed of chopped tarragon and parsley (or just fresh chervil)

• zest from ½ lemon finely grated

• 1 cup of clam juice, chicken, or vegetable stock

• ¼ cup white wine

• 1 tablespoon Anisette, Pernod, Pastis, Absinthe, or other anise-flavored liquor.

• 1-2 tablespoons butter

• ¼ teaspoon white pepper

• salt to taste

• tomato relish for garnish (optional)

• hot sauce (optional) 

Preparation:
Make the pea purée:

1. In a medium saucepan, sauté the garlic and shallot over medium heat until just translucent (not browned).

2. Add the stock and white wine and bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the peas, lemon zest, and white pepper and boil for a minute and remove from heat

4. Strain the peas reserving the liquid.

5. Using a blender or Magic Bullet, add the tarragon and parsley, half the liquid, and the pea mixture and purée until smooth. Add more reserved liquid if necessary to achieve the sauce consistency you want.

6. Taste and adjust the salt to taste. 

Sear the scallops:

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add a tablespoon of butter and swirl until melted. (I also do this outdoors over my gas grill.)

2.  Add the scallops flat side down. Do not crowd and don’t move them for two minutes. Turn over for another 2 minutes and remove from the skillet and set aside.

3. Add the liquor to the still-hot skillet and swirl around for a few seconds. Drizzle over the scallops. 

Assemble the plates:

1. Divide the pea purée equally on your plates and top with the scallops.

2. Garnish each scallop with a teaspoon of chopped fresh tomato relish dressed with a bit of white Balsamic vinegar, minced jalapeño, olive oil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. (optional)

3. Kick it up a notch: sprinkle a few drops of hot sauce of your choice over the pea purée. (optional)

Wine pairing: dry white wines like Chablis, Albariño, Vermentino, or a soft Sauvignon Blanc.