Recipes for Main Courses... with Cornish Sea Salt
Scallops, Lentil & Coriander Sauce
Chosen from Better Gravy by Shaun Hill, chef at The Walnut Tree Inn, he writes “This dish, using griddled scallops, has been a regular item on my menus for the last 15 years and at one point became popular in restaurants across the country – even the great Delia Smith used a more approachable version of the recipe in one of her cookbooks. The secret of its success is its simplicity and the contrast of sweet scallops with the Indian spices."
Serves 4
50g brown lentils
16 large scallops
A little groundnut or sunflower oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped red pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, chopped
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin
300ml chicken stock or water
25g unsalted butter
1 tsp crème fraiche
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp lemon juice, plus a little extra to go on the scallops
Salt and pepper
A little light sesame or groundnut oil
Method
Put the lentils in tepid water and soak for 2 hours. Simmer for around 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
Remove the corals from the scallops. Heat a little sunflower or groundnut oil to a high temperature. Fry the onion, red pepper, ginger and garlic until they start to caramelize, then add the spices and half the cooked lentils.
Heat the scallop corals in the stock (this to add a little more flavour to the stock, not to cook the corals, which I do not use), then strain the stock on to the spiced lentils. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Puree the lentil mixture in a liquidizer, then reheat with the butter, crème fraiche, coriander leaves, chives and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, then add the remaining cooked lentils. Spoon this sauce onto warmed plates.
Slice the scallops into two or three discs depending on their size and brush lightly with light sesame or groundnut oil – take care to have the minimum amount of oil painted on. If there’s too much oil, you’ll have smoke everywhere. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a dry pan until very hot and then fry the oiled scallop slices quickly on both sides. Squeeze a few drops of lemon on the top of the shellfish then place in a heap on top of the sauce.
RECIPE TIP
Shaun’s Top Tips:
Only fresh scallops, preferably diver-caught, will do.
If the scallops need cleaning, do it at the last moment and dry them thoroughly afterwards.
Put coriander leaves and snipped chives in the sauce at the last minute. Their function, and that of the lemon juice, is to freshen and lift the sauce. Too long in the heat diminishes this effect.
The scallops should be cooked a little under-done. Residual heat will continue cooking the slices as you put them on the sauce and carry the plates to the tables. I am not fond of the corals and never use them. If you like their flavour and colour, cook them first and the white meat afterwards as they take a fraction longer.