Scallops with Sage Butter Sauce

My mom gave us some huge fresh scallops so I searched for an easy way to prepare them. I came across a recipe for scallops in tarragon butter, which I thought sounded great and simple. I was limited on time to find my ingredients and the store I went to did not have tarragon, but sage so we made sage scallops! But I think tarragon or rosemary would be good as well.

This recipe was originally published in Food & Wine Magazine in 1998 and I found it on myrecipes.com

Scallops with Sage Butter Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 pounds sea scallops, dried well
salt & fresh-ground black pepper
1/3 cup dry white wine
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage (or tarragon)

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil with 1/2 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Season the scallops with salt and the pepper. Put half the scallops in the pan. Cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook until browned on the second side and just done, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil with 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in the pan and cook the remaining scallops. Remove.

Wipe out the pan. Put the pan over moderately low heat and add the wine. Boil until reduced to approximately 2 tablespoons, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Whisk the remaining 4 tablespoons butter into the wine. The butter should not melt completely but just soften to form a smooth sauce. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the lemon zest, and the sage. Pour the sauce over the scallops.

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We ate the scallops with mushroom and goat cheese linguine!