"Always, only buy hand-dived scallops—the dredged ones are awful and do untold damage to the seabed, wiping out the habitat of so many species. Cheap scallops are exactly that. They are in great demand at Cafe St Honoré, but we take them off the menu regularly to allow stocks to recover. Simply served, as here, is an absolute classic."
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
Allow 3 scallops per person
2 large garlic cloves, bashed, peeled and chopped quite finely
150g unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons of freshly-chopped curly parsley
Zest and juice of 1 very large organic lemon
Good salt and pepper
METHOD
Keep the scallops in the shell - ask your fishmonger to do this for you, and leave the orange coral on too.
To make the butter, add the chopped garlic to the melted butter and add some fine zest of lemon and season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley and mix.
You can fry the scallops in a hot pan with a little rapeseed oil, one at a time, but I prefer to spoon on the garlic butter on to each scallop in the shell and place under a very hot, pre-heated grill or the top shelf of a very hot oven (250°C) until they are golden brown but not over-cooked.
Serve in the shells with a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of good salt and a lemon wedge. Eat at once.