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Posts Tagged ‘Scallops’

Cioppino

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 29 September 2025| Leave a Comment »

This rich, tomato-based seafood stew is a true taste of San Francisco and packed with fresh shellfish. Cioppino is the perfect Saturday night dinner to share with friends, a bit messy but delicious.

You will need to cook it while everyone is there, but as long as your ingredients are prepped ahead of time, it’s all very straightforward. Make sure you’ve got plenty of bread on hand to soak up all the broth.

Wine Suggestion: A fresh, mineral-driven white is the perfect match for this seafood-rich stew. Something vibrant and clean, without the weight of oak. We didn’t have a Californian wine that quite suited so opened an old favourite, the Céline & Frédéric Chablis. It’s full of white stone fruit, crisp apple and zesty citrus with the distinct limestone chalkiness of Chablis.

Cioppino – serves 4 to 6

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • a small bulb of fennel, finely chopped
  • 2 Romano peppers, chopped
  • 250ml white wine, plus an extra splash for the mussels
  • 400g tin of finely chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 300ml very light chicken stock
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 750g mussels, cleaned
  • 300g firm white fish, we used cod, cut into chunks
  • 12 raw shell-on prawns
  • 200g scallops, halved if large
  • a good handful of parsley, chopped
  • sourdough baguette and butter, to serve

Heat the oil in a a large wide pan. Add the onion, garlic and fennel with a good pinch of salt and cook gently for 10 minutes until softened but not coloured. Add the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes until softened. Add the wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, stock and herbs, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a large pan, then tip in the mussels with the extra splash of white wine. Cover and shake the pan for a few minutes until the mussels have opened. Scoop the mussels out and set aside, keep the cooking liquid.

Add the fish, prawns and scallops to the stew, cover and simmer gently for 3-4 minutes or until the fish is cooked and the prawns are pink. Add the mussels with the reserved cooking liquid (hold back any grit) and cook for another minute to heat through. Taste and season if needed.

Stir in the parsley and serve in bowls with plenty of bread and butter.

(Original recipe by Janine Ratcliffe in Olive Magazine, August 2025.)

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Scallop Risotto with Brown Butter

Posted in Food, Italian, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 2 August 2025| Leave a Comment »

You get a much more generous helping of scallops when you cook them for yourself at home and they make a super fancy risotto.

Wine Suggestion: Keeping it Italian we went for the Murgo Etna Bianco, a blend of Carricante and Catarrato which had body, loads of salty, minerality and bags of freshness.

Scallop risotto with brown butter – serves 2

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 200g risotto rice
  • 175ml white wine
  • 500ml hot fish stock
  • 30g Parmesan, finely grated
  • 75g butter
  • 6 large or 12 small scallops (we had a few more than this)
  • a handful of chives, chopped
  • juice of half a lemon
  • a grating of nutmeg

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the shallot for 6 to 8 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and fry for another minute, then stir in the rice. Toast for a few minutes and stir to coat the rice in the oil. Add the wine and let it bubble until almost all absorbed.

Add a ladle of the hot fish stock to the rice and stir until it has been absorbed. Keep going like this, adding a ladleful at a time until all the stock is used and the rice is creamy and tender. Season, then stir in the Parmesan and 25g of the butter. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid. It will rest while you cook the scallops.

Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Pat the scallops dry with kitchen pepper, then season and brush lightly with oil. Add the scallops to the hot frying pan and sear for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, depending on the size of your scallops. Remove the scallops to a plate and take the pan off the heat. Add the rest of the butter and stir until it is foaming and browned – it should smell nutty. Season with black pepper, the chives, lemon juice and nutmeg. Return the scallops to the pan and spoon the butter over them.

Give the rice a stir and divide between warm bowls. Place the scallops on top and pour over the brown butter.

(Original recipe by Anna Glover in Olive Magazine, July 2024.)

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Fideuada del Señorito

Posted in Fish, Food, Pasta, Prawns, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 21 October 2021| Leave a Comment »

Spanish seafood pasta, made like a paella and with a dollop of alioli … what could be more reminiscent of dinner by the sea on holidays; this dish smells like Spain. Lightly does it when cooking the seafood.

Wine Suggestion: A lighltly chilled Garnacha Negra (Grenache Noir) from Terra Alta springs to mind – they really have a wonderful affinity for this grape there, alongside the Garnacha Blanca too. Edetaria’s basic “via Terra” has all the joy, freshness and perfume to compliment the flavours of the food while adding an extra warm spice and red fruits to lift it further. 30 minutes in the fridge was enough to make it taste and feel like sunshine in Spain, even if the weather outside isn’t quite like that at the moment.

Seafood pasta – serves 6 (easily halved)

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 400g monkfish fillet
  • 4 baby squid, cleaned and bodies cut into rings
  • 12 raw peeled king prawns
  • 12 queen scallops (or you can cut bigger ones in half)
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • a good pinch of saffron threads
  • 1.25 litres of fish or chicken stock
  • 500g fideua pasta (or you can use vermicelli or spaghettini)
  • 3 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
  • lemons quarters, to garnish
  • garlic mayonnaise or alioli, to serve

Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large paella pan (40-45cm). Add the monkfish, sprinkle with salt, and cook for a few minutes, turning. Add the squid and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Add the prawns and scallops and turn until the prawns are pink and scallops just seared, just a minute or two. Transfer the cooked seafood to a platter and pour off and reserve any cooking liquid.

Heat the rest of the oil in the same pan, stir in the garlic and stir briefly, then stir in the tomatoes. Add the paprika, saffron and some salt, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the liquid has almost evaporated.

Meanwhile, bring the stock and cooking liquid to the boil. Add the pasta to the sauce in the paella pan and cook, stirring, until well coated. Pour in the boiling and cook until the pasta is al dente. Place the seafood on top a few minutes before the end.

Serve sprinkled with parsley and with lemon and alioli or galric mayonnaise on the side.

(Original recipe from Claudia Roden, The Food of Spain, Michael Joseph, 2012.)

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Scallops with Green Peppercorns & Garlic

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 31 August 2021| Leave a Comment »

This really is just the most delicious treat; the perfect beginning of a meal for 2. You will need bread!

Wine Suggestion: an excellent match for a well made Chardonnay with deftly handled oak. Without spending huge amounts Rustenberg’s Stellenbosch Chardonnay is a go to wine for us. With wild ferment in barrels this is complex, nutty, rich and smooth. Power and restraint in equal proportions.

Scallops with green peppercorns and garlic – serves 2

  • 6 scallops, you can remove the corals if you like but we recommend eating them
  • a knob of butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 tsp green peppercorns (you buy them in jars with brine)
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 2-3 tbsp double cream

Heat the grill as high as it will go.

Put the scallops onto a small tray or dish that can go under the grill. We used a small oven-proof frying pan.

Dot the butter over and around the scallops, along with the garlic, peppercorns and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the dish under the hot grill, fairly close to the element. Grill for 2-3 minutes, then flip over, add the cream, give the tray a shake, then return to the grill for another 2 minutes or untl the scallops are cooked and the sauce bubbling.

Eat with lots of good bread to mop up the sauce.

(Original recipe from Gather by Gill Meller, Quadrille, 2017.)

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Scallops with Salted Sesame Oil

Posted in Asian, Food, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 15 October 2020| Leave a Comment »

This is a great canapé and couldn’t be simpler. A lovely idea from Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo’s Our Korean Kitchen. We will happily do this many times.

Wine Suggestion: A good dry riesling is required, but with a richness of fruit. Our favourite at the moment is Weingut Korrell’s Paradies vineyard dry Riesling from Kreuznacher in the Nahe region; poised and elegant, rich and dry. The hints of lime match the scallop dish so well.

Scallops with Salted Sesame Oil – serves 6

  • 8 scallops, the scallops in our fish shop had the roes removed, but it’s fine to leave them on
  • 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 garlic cloves, crushed
  • a squeeze of lemon juice
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

FOR THE SALTED SESAME OIL

  • 1 tbsp roasted sesame seed oil
  • ½ tsp sea salt

Cut the tough white bit off the side of each scallop.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Thread 2 scallops onto 4 small wooden skewers (you can soak these for a bit before using to stop them burning).

Lightly season the scallops skewers with salt and pepper.

When the pan is very hot, add the skewers and fry, without moving, for 1 minute. Flip over and cook for another 40 seconds. Add the garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice and fry for just 10 seconds, then remove from the heat.

Serve with the sesame seeds and chives scattered over and the salted sesame oil for dipping.

(Original recipe from Our Korean Kitchen by Jordan Bourke & Rejina Pyo, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2015.)

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Scallop & Prawn Risotto

Posted in Fish, Gluten-free, Prawns, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , on 9 January 2020| 2 Comments »

 

Scallop & prawn risotto

We brought in the new decade with this fabulous scallop and prawn risotto. Couldn’t be simpler to make but tastes really special. Scallops aren’t cheap but you only need a few for this and they are totally worth it.

Wine Suggestion: A special occasion with a special person requires a special wine. Made by the brilliant Dermot Sugrue, his Cuvée Dr Brendan O’Regan is multilayered, multidimensional and complex. To be honest this is the best English Sparkling we’ve tasted and it has a great roundness and weight alongside it’s natural freshness which allowed us to start with seaside, fresh oysters and then segue to a much richer risotto without breaking a sweat.

Scallop & Prawn Risotto – serves 4

  • 100g butter, plus a bit extra
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 450g risotto rice
  • 750ml-1 litre, hot fish or light chicken stock
  • 350-400g raw peeled prawns
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 3 tbsp mascarpone
  • 12 scallops, orange roe and side muscles removed
  • a bunch of chives, finely chopped
  • a small bunch of basil, chopped

Melt the butter in a large heavy-based pan and gently cook the shallot until soft but not coloured. Add the rice and stir until the grains are coated in butter.

Gradually add the hot stock, stirring all the time, until the rice is just tender – about 20 minutes. Add the prawns when the rice is cooked but al dente, then season and add the lemon zest and juice. Turn the prawns until they have turned pink all over, then add the mascarpone and gently fold in.

Allow the risotto to rest for 5 minutes while you fry the scallops for a minute on each side in a knob of butter in a frying pan. Add these to the risotto and sprinkle with the herbs.

(Original recipe by Lulu Grimes in Olive Magazine, December 2015.)

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Spaghetti with Scallop, Garlic & Hot Pepper Sauce

Posted in Food, Gruner Veltliner, Italian, Pasta, Shellfish, Wine, tagged , , , , on 10 June 2012| Leave a Comment »

This is a delicious recipe from Marcella Hazan’s The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Marcella recommends using canestrelli which are tiny little sweet scallops which are also know as Queen Scallops or Queenies. We didn’t have canestrelli to hand when we made this but achieved a similar effect by chopping up larger scallops so there are lots of little pieces through the dish. Serve the sauce with spaghettini if you can get it, but thicker spaghetti will work too.

Scallop Sauce with Olive Oil Garlic and Hot Pepper – to serve 6

  • 450g fresh queen or deep-sea scallops
  • 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp very finely chopped garlic
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • chopped hot red chilli pepper, to taste
  • salt
  • 450-675g pasta
  • 45g dry breadcrumbs, lightly toasted in the oven or a dry pan

Wash the scallops in cold water, pat dry with a tea towel and cut into little pieces about 9mm thick.

Put the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan, turn the heat to medium and cook until the garlic becomes pale gold, add the parsley and chilli. Stir and add the scallops and a couple of large pinches of salt. Turn the heat to high, and cook for about 90 seconds, stirring often, until the scallops become opaque and loose their shine. Careful not to overcook them or they will be tough. Taste and adjust the seasoning. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, remove the scallops with a slotted spoon, and boil down the watery juices. Return the scallops to the pan, turn quickly, then take off the heat.

Toss well with the cooked spaghettini, add the breadcrumbs and toss again.

Drink with: An easy, simple and fruity Grüner Veltliner (GV) works well by not overwhelming this delicate sauce and the spicy white pepper spices in GV complement the spices and chilli in the dish. Don’t spoil the balance by getting a powerful and complex GV.

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