I can’t quite believe how simple yet luscious these are. I prefer to get my scallops from the fishmonger for this, which is just as well as I don’t think I could ever get a supermarket to supply me with shells. You don’t need to take the corals off, but I like to turn this into two meals, and fry up the corals the next day with some butter and garlic oil, and eat them squished on to chunky bread or toast, spritzed with lemon juice and carpeted with parsley.
SERVES 6
6 scallop shells
If very small, 18 or 24 scallops (with the corals and roes taken out).
100g of fresh breadcrumbs
6 tablespoons butter
1 lime (for squeezeing).
1½ tsp garlic infused olive oil
Salt and pepper
- The oven should be preheated to 250C/230C fan/gas 9, or higher. Dry the scallop shells, then rinse them and place them on a baking pan.
- In a large bowl, place the scallops and then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Turn them over to coat each piece with the breadcrumbs.
- Place three breaded scallops in each shell. Sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs.
- Add 1 tsp of butter on top of each scallop-filled shell, a squirt of lime juice, ¼ tsp of garlic oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the scallops in the oven for 15 minutes (5-10 minutes if using the small scallops) – you really want the breadcrumbs to be crispy and the butter turning black around the edges of the shell.