pan-fried scallops, pea purée, broad bean fricassée and crispy bacon
Chef’s note:
Shel Gibbs, Head Chef at The Swan in Loddon shares this light, refreshing starter – perfect for Easter or a Jubilee event. With years of hospitality experience behind her, Shel has worked at leading restaurants across the region and last year became Head Chef at The Swan. She garnishes this dish with red amaranth and dill oil, adding fries or bread to make this more of a light lunch than a starter.
- 6 King scallops (membrane and roe removed)
- 130 grams petit pois
- 200 grams broad beans in their pod (or 60g frozen)
- 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon
- 50 grams salted butter
- 2 baby gem leaves (shredded)
- 75 milliliters double cream
- 4 fresh mint leaves (chopped)
- splash of olive oil
- juice of 1/4 lemon
- 1 garlic clove (diced)
- 1 banana shallot (diced)
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 pinch red amaranth leaves
- 6 drops dill oil
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Then put two rashers of bacon between two pieces of greaseproof paper and place in the oven around 20 minutes until brown and crispy. Place on kitchen roll to absorb any liquid. Once cooled, chop to a crumb-like consistency.
To make the pea purée, fry half of the diced shallots and garlic in oil until golden. Add 100g of peas and fry for another two minutes. Then add the cream, mint and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for three minutes, then blend/blitz with a stick blender. Pass through a sieve, check the seasoning, and place into a small pan ready to heat later.
Prepare the scallops by removing the roe and membrane from the scallops; usually, you can pinch the membrane and softly pull away from the scallops and both the membrane and roe should come off together. Place the scallop meat on kitchen roll.
Next, make the fricassée by bringing a small pan of water to the boil. Pod the broad beans if using fresh, then add to the water and boil for two minutes. Drain and place the broad beans in iced cold water to refresh – this will stop the cooking process. Double pod the beans by gently squeezing each broad bean until the inner section pops out. Set these aside and discard the shells.
Slice the other two rashers of bacon into lardons and fry in a splash of oil until light brown. Add the rest of the garlic and shallots until lightly sweated off. Add the rest of the peas and the broad beans and cook for two minutes. Remove from the heat, add half the butter and baby gem leaves to the pan and mix. The fricassee will continue to cook from the residual heat.
Lightly season the scallops with a pinch of salt and heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add a splash of oil and place each scallop in the pan, flat side down, and cook until golden brown, around two-to-three minutes. Flip over and cook for a further one or two minutes – they should spring back to the touch and be just warm in the centre. Add a knob of butter in the pan, squeeze the lemon juice over the scallops, and remove from the heat. Baste the scallops with the butter and set aside ready for plating.
Heat the purée and fricassée, then place the purée on the bottom of a plate. Put the fricassée on top, and then place the scallops on top. Sprinkle with the crispy bacon. Garnish optional with red amaranth leaves and dill oil.