Brown-Buttered Seared Scallops with Sunchokes and Root Vegetable Purée

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

On a baking sheet, toss sunchokes with 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange cut-side down in a single layer and roast until golden and tender, about 18 minutes.

While sunchokes roast, place celery root and turnips in a medium pot, add chicken stock and salt, then cover with cold water. Bring to a boil until vegetable are tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to bowl.

While veggies cook, heat all but 1 tsp of ghee or butter in large pan (cast-iron skillet is best) over medium-high heat. When butter is foamy, add scallops and cook without moving until browned on bottom about 4 minutes. Flip and cook until opaque, another 2-3 minutes. Remove scallops and set aside, reserving butter in pan.

Add 1/2 of milk and remaining butter to brown with veggies. Use a Vitamix, blender, or potato masher to purée root veggies until smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Use remaining milk if you need to make a thinner consistency to the purée.

Add Thyme sprigs and sage to pan with butter over medium heat. Cook until butter is deep golden crown and smells nutty, about 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Divide root vegetable purée evenly between 2 plates. Top with scallops and scatter around sunchokes. Spoon over brown butter and serve.