Queen Scallops with Bacon, Samphire and Peas
Ingredients
70g cubed pancetta
200g queen scallops, rinsed with roes intact
1/2 red chilli
200g fresh or frozen peas
100g fresh samphire
Knob of butter
a few finely chopped rosemary leaves
black pepper
swirl of cream
Method
About 45 minutes before you want to eat, put the pancetta, chilli and rosemary onto a small, shallow frying pan over a low heat. Allow the pancetta to render, releasing its fat and turning a rich mahogany colour while picking up the aroma and flavour of the rosemary and chilli.
Just before you’re ready to eat, place the peas and samphire in a pan and cover with boiling water to cook for 3 minutes.
Immediately after this, add a knob of butter to your bacon pan and turn up the heat.
When the butter starts to foam, add the scallops to the frying pan and cook them quickly, turning them half way through so that they pick up some colour on both sides. About 4 minutes – until the whites are no longer translucent.
At the end of 3 minutes drain your peas and samphire, add them back to the pan and swirl in a small amount of cream.
Remove the scallops from the heat, add a twist of black pepper, and serve scallops and peas together, side by side, in individual bowls.
Tip
If you want to add some extra flavour, deglaze your scallop pan with a slug of dry sherry. Or add fresh herbs – dill, basil, parsley, for example – to your peas.
