Scallops

Ingredients

• 5 scallops per person
• 1 tablespoon of light olive oil
• 15g unsalted butter

Preparation Time: 10 minutes (in the shell) or 10 seconds (if already prepared)
Cooking Time: 1½ minutes
Serves: Depends on initial quantity

Method

1. This stage assumes you have whole, live scallops in the shell, if you don’t, you can skip to stage 2. Take a sharp knife and force it down through the two halves of the shell at the back where the hinge is. Slide the knife along the flat half of the shell to separate one side of the scallop. Then take a spoon and, starting from the front of the shell, drag the spoon underneath the scallop, cutting through the white muscle, to scoop it out. Remove the black skirt and the orange-coloured roe from around the white muscle. Pull off any excess parts, including the transparent brown membrane, to expose the white muscle. Wash it under cold, running water and put it on a cloth to dry.
2. In a non-stick frying pan, heat the oil and butter over a medium heat, season the scallops with salt & pepper and, while the butter is still fizzing, put them in the pan.
3. Cook the scallops on one side for 1 minute, then turn them over and cook for a further 30 seconds. They should be soft but not rubbery.
4. Immediately remove the scallops from the pan and serve. We served them with pan-fried lardons (cubes of bacon), a mixed leaf salad and a balsamic vinegar reduction.

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Useful Information

Can it be frozen? No.
Can it be prepared in advance? Yes, up to 2 days to stage 1 (keep them clustered together on a plate lined with kitchen paper and cover them with cling-film/plastic-wrap).
Will leftovers be nice? No.

Notes