I returned from the Chelsea Fishmonger with a bag full of Scottish King Scallops and no idea what to do with them. Knowing with scallops time is very much of the essence – into the freezer they went, in batches of three, whilst I worked on a recipe.
“Worked” is perhaps something of an overstatement – I looked in the fridge and within a few minuites had come up with a plan – something simple, tasty, and requiring nothing but a blender and some choice ingredients. Nduja was the answer – a thick slice, or a jar of the stuff is always in my fridge (I’m particularly fond of Natrooras offering). But then what? Those plump scallops, lying in a fool of orange, peppery oil, and topped with a crust of deliciously spicy pork, need something to cut through the fat. Another trip to the fridge to see what I had in there – and the “Green Salsa” was born. Spring onion and parsley, for freshness, cornichon and lemon juice for acidity, and a slick of good olive oil to hold the whole things together. Roughly blended and spooned onto the cooked scallops – it really is as simple as that.
Visually these look great – your dining guest will be impressed – even if you are your dining guest – but most importantly they are as delicious as they come (don’e let the delciious cookind liquor in the scallop shells go to waste – some crusty bread or an enthusiastic slurp is in order!
A delicious starter or impressive dinner party dish - this simple recipe combines a sweet scallop, spicy, fatty nduja, and an acidic fresh green salsa to cut through it all. Absolutely delicious and from fridge to fork in less than 30 mins.
Ingredients
- Scallops - I use large Scottish King Scallops, with roe
- 1 Spring onion
- 1 Cornichon (2 if you like it zingy)
- A generous handful of fresh parsley
- Extra Virgin Olive oil
- A Lemon
- Nduja (I get mine from Natoora)
- Scallop Shells - 1 per scallop
Instructions
- Place each scallop into a shell.
- Add a heaped teaspoon of nduja to each, pressing the nduja into the scallop.
- Place the scallops onto a baking tray and place into a 200 degree oven for 20 mins.
- At 10 mins, check your scallops, ad a drop of olive oil to each, should any be drying out.
- Whilst your scallops are cooking, make the green salsa: add a cornichon or two, the parsley, a whole spring onion, a squeeze of lemon, and a generous glug of olive oil to a blender. Blend until coarse.
- Remove the scallops from the oven (they should be white - cooked through, and the nduja should have relseased its oil).
- Carefully plate your scallops
- Serve with blob of the green salsa on each, and wedges of lemon.
Notes
Cook time will depend on your scallops - mine were very large and took 25 mins. A medium scallop should be done in 20mins. This also works with the small (bay) scallops - use 3 per shell.
If you can't find scallops in shell - Wright Brothers are offering 6 in shell for £13 (a bairgain!) or the empty shells can be purchased on thefishsociety.co.uk, or Amazon.
The salsa can keep for 2 days - feel free to prepare the dish ahead of time to pop in the oven when ready.