Scallops with winter vegetables and parsley pesto
A warming winter broth packed full of flavour and comforting seasonal vegetables.
By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the scallops with winter vegetables
- 25g/1oz salted butter
- 4 oyster mushrooms, sliced
- ½ fennel bulb, cored and finely chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 celery sticks, diced
- 1 leek, diced
- 300ml/10fl oz fish stock
- 8 scallops, shells and corals removed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the parsley pesto
- 1 bunch fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped
- 3 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 25ml/1fl oz red wine vinegar
- 50–100ml/2–3½fl oz olive oil
- 1 small hot green chilli, chopped
Method
To make the scallops, heat the butter in a large frying pan and fry the mushrooms for 10 minutes or until browned. Add the fennel, onion, celery and leek and continue to cook until softened. Add the fish stock. Taste, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 2–3 minutes.
Season the scallops, then cook them in a hot pan until coloured. Drop them into the hot stock. Turn the heat off immediately and allow the scallops to poach in the hot liquid.
To make the parsley pesto, blitz all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, adding enough oil to make a loose paste.
Stir the parsley pesto into the vegetable scallop mixture and serve immediately.
