BushyEyes: The creamy lemon caper sauce has a base of lemon juice, capers, anchovies, crushed red pepper, and garlic. After being fried briefly, until the anchovies have melted, we add white wine to the lemon caper sauce with reserved pasta cooking water. After the sauce simmers briefly, we add heavy cream to create the ultimate dreamy creamy lemon caper sauce for our seared scallops and orzo. [Recipe posted here originally.](https://www.triedandtruerecipe.com/2018/06/24/seared-scallops-in-a-creamy-lemon-caper-sauce-with-orzo/)
#Grade
Serves: 4-6
Cost: $$
Skill Level: Easy
Time to Make: 35-40 minutes
#Ingredients for Seared Scallops in a Creamy Lemon Caper Sauce with Orzo
**SEARED SCALLOPS**
1 pound large, dry sea scallops, muscle removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste
**CREAMY LEMON CAPER SAUCE WITH ORZO**
16 ounces orzo
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic
3 anchovy filets
1 3.5-ounce jar nonpareil capers, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more or less to taste
¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley
½ cup white wine (or use no sodium chicken stock)
1 cup heavy cream
1 large lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
#Method
Prepare Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the orzo until al dente. Reserve ¼ cup pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain and rinse the orzo and toss with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.
Prepare Ingredients: Zest 1½ teaspoons lemon zest and then juice the lemon. Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Combine the chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon lemon zest (reserve remaining zest for garnish), anchovies, crushed red pepper, and drained capers in a bowl and toss to combine. Mince the parsley.
Prepare the Seared Scallops: Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high until very hot. Pat the scallops dry and season with salt and pepper. Sear for about 1-2 minutes until very well browned and seared. Flip and cook an additional minute or so until just cooked through and opaque. Transfer the cooked scallops to a plate and tent loosely with foil to keep warm. Blot out most of the excess oil from the skillet.
Prepare the Creamy Lemon Caper Sauce: Return the skillet to medium high heat. Add the bowl with the garlic and capers and sauté for 5 minutes, mashing the anchovies until they’ve ‘melted’. Add the parsley and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and white wine and bring to a boil, scraping any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Cook for 5-6 minutes until reduced slightly. Add the heavy cream and reserved pasta cooking water and stir to combine, and turn the heat to medium. Taste and season to your preferences. Once bubbly and thickened slightly, add the orzo and toss to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes more or until the orzo is warmed. Turn off the heat.
To Serve: Divide the orzo with creamy lemon caper sauce between bowls and arrange scallops on top of each dish. Garnish with a bit of lemon zest on each dish, a crack of fresh black pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional). Enjoy!
fathertimeo: I never had scallops up until a month or two ago, my Lord they can be fantastic.
RedditYouVapidSlut: In a recipe like this with the lemon, capers and shellfish, natural yogurt could substitute the heavy cream for a lighter feel, couldn’t it?
LinaJo88: That looks Super Deluxe Yummy 😋!
Bombingofdresden: The only problem I have with eating scallops is that there are never enough scallops for me to eat.
SynX_Regime: Gordon Ramsey would be proud of those Scallops.
byronausten: This looks so delicious I love scallops 🙂
Orange035: That looks and sounds damn tasty. I’m going to be making this in the next week! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
zugzwang_03: This sounds absolutely incredible, I’m adding it to my recipe app. Thanks!
strixaluco: I just found my next date night recipe! Super excited to make this.
Quizzelbuck: you can keeps nasty capers to self.
abd14: Orzo for this? There must be a better choice.