Seared Scallops with Butternut Squash Purée and Brown Butter Sage

Seared scallops sound like a restaurant-only treat, but they are one of the fastest proteins you can cook: two minutes on one side, one on the other, and you have a sweet, caramelized crust that tastes far fancier than the effort involved. Here they sit on a silky, velvety butternut squash purée, drenched in nutty brown butter with crackly fried sage, a classic autumn pairing on the table in 35 minutes.

The single most important step is drying the scallops properly: any moisture on the surface steams instead of sears, so pat them with paper towels until they feel tacky. Look for "dry-packed" scallops if you can, since they brown far better than the wet-packed kind, and pull the little side muscle off each one before cooking. The purée can be made a day ahead and gently reheated.

Step-by-step instructions

Put the butternut squash cubes in a saucepan with the stock and a good pinch of salt. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, until a knife slides through the squash with no resistance.

Tip the squash and any remaining stock into a blender with 1 tbsp of the butter and the nutmeg, and blitz until completely silky. Season with salt and pepper, return to the pan and keep warm over the lowest heat.

Pat the scallops very dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until shimmering, then lay the scallops in a ring and leave them untouched for 2 minutes, until a deep golden crust forms underneath.

Flip the scallops, add the remaining 2 tbsp butter and the sage leaves, and cook for 1 minute more, tilting the pan and spooning the foaming butter over the scallops until it smells nutty and the sage is crisp. Squeeze in half the lemon and take the pan off the heat.

Spoon a generous swoosh of purée onto two warm plates and arrange the scallops on top. Spoon over the brown butter, lay the crispy sage leaves around them and finish with the toasted pumpkin seeds and a lemon wedge.

Brown butter goes from nutty to burnt in seconds, so take the pan off the heat the moment it smells toasty and the foam turns hazelnut-colored. No scallops? This purée and brown butter sage combination is just as good with seared cod, pork chops or crispy gnocchi.