Baked scallops with a cheese crumb

If you’re planning to have a few guests around for dinner and were looking for a special dish to wow them with, then look no further. As well as being a totally original idea for a first course, ‘power food’ scallops are a great source of protein, magnesium and potassium. Adding the cheese crumb and pickled onion butter gives a tasty twist.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the scallops:

12 scallops, cleaned, shells retained and washed

240ml white wine

200g white bread, blended into crumbs

100g grated mature Davidstow® cheddar

Handful of coriander, washed with the stalks left on

For the pickled onion butter:

300g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened

200g pickled onions, drained and chopped

2tbsp chopped parsley

Salt to season

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C.

To make the cheese crumbs, place the breadcrumbs and coriander into a food processor and blend until the coriander is well incorporated. Now add the grated cheese and blend for 30 seconds. Empty the contents of the food processor on to a tray and reserve until cooking the scallops.

To make the pickled onion butter, place the softened butter into a bowl with the chopped pickled onions and chopped parsley. Mix together well and season with salt. Reserve the flavoured butter until cooking the scallops.

To cook the scallops, make sure the scallop shells are clean and dry. Place a scallop in each of the shells with 20ml of white wine and 30g of the butter on top of every one. Arrange the scallops on a large oven tray and sprinkle the cheese breadcrumbs over the top of each one equally. Put the tray of scallops in the oven and cook for six to eight minutes.

To check they are cooked, insert a small knife into the centre of one scallop and hold it there for 10 seconds. Pull the knife out and place it on the back of your hand. The blade should be more than warm, but not piping hot. Remove the scallops from the oven and serve straight away.

Recipe by Nathan Outlaw for Davidstow, courtesy of greatbritishchefs.com