Scallops and chorizo

 

This is a quick dish to cook but you need to be precise about the timing with the scallops or they will turn rubbery.

This dish requires semi-dried chorizo. That is chorizo in sausages that are still soft and need to be kept refrigerated. Don’t try using dried chorizo (which is sold at the deli counter, is normally wider, can be sliced easily, and keeps reasonably well outside the refrigerator).

This disk also requires super fresh, plump, good quality scallops. If the only scallops you can get hold of are small, dull, greyish and don’t have corals (the orange roe sac) attached, then give them a miss and choose a different recipe.

I have to admit that the last time I cooked it (as photographed above) did not go as well as planned. Two things went wrong. Firstly, the chorizo I used was clearly of some previously undiscovered “low fat” variety. Normally when frying chorizo it quickly releases a lot of orange liquid fat (in which in essence one fries the scallops later). This is the first chorizo I’ve used that didn’t do this, and hence extra oil was required. Secondly, I thought I’d experiment by cooking this in a cast iron skillet rather than a non-stick frying pan. The cooking process itself went well, but the sauce (made in the pan) predictably enough lost its vibrant orange colour (already reduced by the lack of orange fat) as some of the remaining carbon in the pan made it darker and murkier. The taste was great, but it’s a far prettier dish on the plate normally.

If you are not quick with a knife, I’d suggest doing the julienne, chopping the coriander and zesting the orange before you start. This serialises things and means the dish takes marginally longer, but you will be less stressed.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 semi dried chorizo sausages
• 12 medium (or 10 large) fresh scallops, with corals
• 100ml Noilly Prat
• Zest of half an orange
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• Julienned peel of one lemon
• Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Serves 2

Set a dish to warm in the oven at about 80 C. Also warm two plates to serve up on.

Slit the skin of the chorizo from one end to another, and then peel them by popping out the meat (it should come out as one). Slice each chorizo into five. It won’t slice cleanly because it is still soft, but this is not a problem. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan (not a cast iron one, per the above warning) on a medium high heat, and add the sliced chorizo. Fry the chorizo, turning it occasionally.

Meanwhile, put the scallops on some paper kitchen towel on a plate. Pat the top of the scallops with more kitchen towel.

Julienne (slice thinly) the lemon peel, and preserve. Zest the orange and preserve. Chop the coriander and preserve.

After five minutes or so it should have a few char marks on it (and generally look cooked). Using a slotted spatula, transfer the chorizo to the dish in the oven to keep it warm. Leave the oil in the dish.

This is the point where you need to be super organised, and have everything else completely ready. You can’t dawdle while the scallops are cooking, and you need to serve the scallops as soon as possible after they are cooked.

The pan should still be on the medium high heat, and should have a good coating of hot oil. Using a pair of kitchen tongs, transfer the scallops to the frying pan, with one of the flat sides down, as quickly as possible. Each scallop needs to be cooked for two minutes (possibly three if they are very large) on each side. As it will take you a reasonable amount of time to transfer 12 scallops to a pan (it takes me about a minute), you need to remember what order you put them in, so you can turn them over in the same order, and take them out in the same order. Do not stir them around - leave them to develop a char on the bottom. At the point of turning them over, the underside of each scallop should be partly charred. If it’s not, either your heat was too low (difficult to remedy now), or it needs slightly more time, but don’t go over three minutes. Similarly the other side should be slightly charred when you finally take them out. Getting this right requires a little practice. After each scallop has been cooked for two minutes each side, carefully remove it to one of your pre-warmed serving plates.

Add the Noilly Prat to the pan (there will be a big hiss and lots of steam). Immediately add the orange zest, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and turn the heat up to maximum. While the pan mixture reduces (probably takes about a minute), remove the chorizo from the oven, and arrange it around the scallops on the serving plates. Pour the pan mixture over the top of the scallops and chorizo, then garnish with the chopped coriander leaves and julienne of lemon peel.