Coquilles Saint Jacques
In France, the full name for scallops is coquilles St.-Jacques. There’s a lovely story behind the name. When St. James (a.k.a. St. Jacques ) went wandering on religious pilgrimages, he took with him the shell of a sea scallop. When asking for food or drink to nourish him along the way, he would only accept the amount that fit in the shell!
The scallop shell has been the symbol for him ever since.
We get our scallops from Dorset and grill them on a chargrill giving a smoky contrast to the natural sweetness of the scallop.
We serve them in many ways, with lardons, anchovy butter and even crispy chicken skin.
Our picture, however shows another classic way of serving them with toasted pine nuts and garlic butter.
INGREDIENTS
serves 2
- 4 plump scallops in their shell, cleaned and trimmed and freed ( ask your fish monger to do this for you ) - keep the roe on - it’s the best bit!
- salt & pepper
- 5 g of garlic butter (store bought or homemade)
- 5 g of pine nuts
METHOD
- Season the scallops with salt pepper and a little extra virgin olive oil
- On a griddle or BBQ on a very high heat, cook on one side of the scallop until it frees itself naturally from the grill ( if it sticks it’s not ready )
- Remove from grill and add into the shell with 5 grams of garlic butter in each of the 4 shells and then roast them for a further couple of minutes in the oven on 180c, allowing the juices of the scallop and butter to combine well.
You can buy garlic butter very easily nowadays and it’s very simple to make otherwise. - Top with 5 grams of pre toasted pine nuts when you serve et voila….Simple, luxurious and delicious.