Seared Scallops with Butternut-Cauliflower "Risotto," Roasted Maitake, Crispy Sage, and Toasted Hazelnuts

Golden-seared sea scallops over a creamy, grain-free "risotto" of tiny butternut squash cubes and riced cauliflower, with crisp roasted maitake mushrooms, sage leaves fried until shatteringly crisp, and toasted hazelnuts. It's a cozy autumn plate that eats like a special-occasion restaurant dinner.

Yield: Serves 2 · Active: 40 min · Total: 45 min · Best in North America from fall into winter, when butternut squash, maitake (hen of the woods), and sage are at their peak · Best eaten: early evening

Complete Menu

• Seared Sea Scallops

• Butternut-Cauliflower "Risotto"

• Roasted Maitake Mushrooms

• Crispy Sage and Toasted Hazelnuts

Your Game Plan

• About 45 min out: Heat the oven to 425°F. Dice the squash and rice the cauliflower. Toast the hazelnuts.

• About 35 min out: The maitake goes into the oven. Start the "risotto."

• About 15 min out: Fry the sage. Pat the scallops dry.

• About 5 min out: Sear the scallops. Finish the maitake with garlic ghee.

• Plate right away.

Recipe 1 — Butternut-Cauliflower "Risotto"

Ingredients

• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into small ¼-inch dice

• 2 cups riced cauliflower (about ½ medium head, pulsed in a food processor)

• 1 tbsp grass-fed butter or ghee, plus 1 tbsp to finish

• 1 small shallot, finely minced

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• ¾–1 cup chicken bone broth, warm

• ½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

• ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

• Optional: 3 tbsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP

Method

1. Soften the aromatics. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook 2 minutes, then the garlic for 30 seconds.

2. Cook the squash. Add the diced squash and ½ cup broth, cover, and simmer 6–8 minutes, until tender.

3. Make it creamy. Scoop out about ½ cup of the cooked squash, mash it with a fork into a smooth purée, and stir it back in. This gives the "risotto" its creamy body.

4. Add the cauliflower. Stir in the riced cauliflower, salt, and pepper, and cook 4–5 minutes, adding broth a splash at a time, until the cauliflower is tender and everything is loose, creamy, and spoonable, like risotto.

5. Finish with the remaining tablespoon of butter and the optional Parmigiano. Taste and adjust. Keep warm.

Recipe 2 — Roasted Maitake Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 8 oz maitake mushrooms, torn into large clusters

• 1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt

• 1 tbsp ghee

• 1 garlic clove, finely grated

Method

1. Roast. Toss the maitake with the olive oil and salt, spread it on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and roast at 425°F for 15–20 minutes, until browned and crisp at the edges.

2. Finish with garlic ghee. Warm the ghee with the garlic for 30 seconds, until fragrant, and spoon it over the hot mushrooms. Adding the garlic at the end keeps it from burning in the oven.

Recipe 3 — Crispy Sage and Toasted Hazelnuts

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp ghee or grass-fed butter

• 10–12 fresh sage leaves

• ¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

• Pinch of flaky sea salt

Method

1. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat 3–5 minutes, until fragrant. Rub off any skins in a towel, then chop.

2. Fry the sage. Heat the ghee in a small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the sage leaves and fry 30–60 seconds, until crisp and bright green, then lift them onto a plate and sprinkle with flaky salt. They crisp up more as they cool. Save the fragrant sage butter for drizzling.

Recipe 4 — Seared Sea Scallops

Ingredients

• 8–10 large dry-packed sea scallops, side muscles removed

• ½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

• 1 tbsp ghee

Method

1. Dry them extremely well with paper towels, then season with salt just before cooking.

2. Sear. Heat the ghee in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Lay the scallops in with space between them and sear 1½–2 minutes without moving them, until deeply golden. Flip and cook about 1 minute more, until the center is still slightly translucent.

Plating

Spoon a generous bed of butternut-cauliflower "risotto" onto each warm plate. Arrange the scallops on top, tuck clusters of roasted maitake alongside, and scatter with crispy sage and toasted hazelnuts. Finish with a drizzle of the sage butter and a pinch of flaky salt.

Storage

• Scallops: Best eaten right away; they don't reheat well

• "Risotto": Refrigerated up to 3 days. Rewarm with a splash of broth

• Maitake: Refrigerated up to 4 days

• Crispy sage: Best the day it's made

• Toasted hazelnuts: In an airtight jar up to 2 weeks

Support for the Female Infradian Rhythm

This cozy plate supports every phase of your cycle. Scallops bring B12, selenium, zinc, and magnesium. Butternut squash offers beta-carotene and steady, satisfying carbohydrate, especially welcome in the luteal phase. Cauliflower brings glucosinolates that support estrogen metabolism through Phase 2 liver detoxification, and maitake adds immune-supporting beta-glucans.

Nourishment Notes

Sea scallops — lean complete protein, B12, selenium, zinc, magnesium, and some omega-3s.

Butternut squash — beta-carotene (fat-soluble, so the butter helps you absorb it), vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

Cauliflower — glucosinolates, choline, vitamin C, and vitamin K.

Maitake mushrooms — beta-glucans studied for immune support, plus ergothioneine (an antioxidant found in mushrooms in far higher amounts than in any other food), B vitamins, and copper.

Sage — rosmarinic acid and aromatic oils, traditionally valued for digestion.

Hazelnuts — vitamin E, manganese, copper, and oleic acid.

Chicken bone broth — gelatin, glycine, and minerals.

Grass-fed butter and ghee — fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, plus butyrate and CLA.

Sourcing

• Sea scallops — dry-packed (never "wet" or treated with STP), ivory to pale peach rather than bright white. Hand-harvested diver scallops from Maine (in season roughly December through April) are a special treat, and farmed scallops are an excellent, sustainable year-round choice (wild seafood can't be certified organic)

• Butternut squash and cauliflower — organic, from a farmers' market

• Maitake mushrooms — organic, from a farmers' market or local mushroom grower. Wild maitake (hen of the woods) appears in fall; only eat foraged mushrooms identified by an expert

• Fresh sage, shallot, and garlic — organic, hardneck garlic

• Hazelnuts — organic Oregon hazelnuts, or Nocciola Piemonte IGP from Italy

• Chicken bone broth — homemade from pasture-raised chicken, or Bonafide Provisions (organic, sold frozen)

• Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional) — DOP, aged 24+ months, made from raw milk by law

• Grass-fed butter and ghee — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows, or Ancient Organics ghee

• Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated within the past year, in dark glass

• Salt — Baja Gold sea salt; Maldon or fleur de sel de Guérande for finishing

— Anna aka Food Marshall