Sweet Scallop Canape

Seared Scallops on a Carrot Puree + Butter Sauce

It was Dad’s 65th Birthday yesterday plus he retired so a celebration was in order. Like me, he loves seafood so off to the fish market I went! Originally I had thought of using a cauliflower puree but instead I took the opportunity to dig into that big pile of carrots I had in the fridge. The sweet scallop meat went really well with the carrot in the end, plus the colours were much more inviting!

This recipe is for 12 Scallops.

You will need:

• 12 scallops with their shell
• 3 carrots
• 50gms butter
• 2 tbs of thickened cream
• Baby herbs to top the scallops at the end
• 1 tbs grape seed oil (to pan fry the scallops)

Carrot Puree

First up, peel the carrots and dice them. Cook them in a pot of boiling water until nice and soft. Pop them into a food processor with a pinch of salt, knob of butter (about 20gms) and the cream. Process until nice and smooth. If you want you can pass this through a sieve for an extra fine puree…but who’s got time for that!

Scallops

Remove the scallops from the shells and give both the meat and shells a good rinse, removing any sand that may be in there. Dry the shells and put to the side. Dry the scallops using a paper towel and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat up a skillet on high and when it’s nice and hot add the grape seed oil, coating the whole of the pan. Sear the scallops for about 2-3 minutes on each side for a nice golden colour.  Do this in batches if needed, so that you don’t over crowd the pan.

Remove the scallops from the pan and put to the side. In the still hot pan add the remainder of the butter, remove from heat when the butter has bubbled up to a nice nutty colour.

To assemble place the dry shells on your serving plate, spoon a tsp of the puree in each one, top with the scallop and then a little drizzle of the butter sauce. Last step to make it all nice and pretty, top each one with a little cluster of the baby herbs.