Please excuse the longest title in the world for a dish (or an article) but I couldn’t really break it down. I have to mention each ingredient as they are all essential to the complete dish. I love how this dish is constructed, on one side is a basic surf and turf, on the other is a simple salad. But, each individual component of this dish matches another. You have sweet, delicate scallops with strong, spicy chorizo. Then you have the fiery pepper of wild rocket and the sweet, juicy tomatoes. A mellow white wine jus and a pungent, savoury black truffle oil. Then you mix the different parts and no two bites are the same.
The starter went down fairly well during my dinner party, the only issue was with the english black truffle oil I used to dress the salad. Black truffles are fairly pungent in taste, this particular truffle oil (which contains real truffle, not just flavouring) is more suited to salads but even then, you still have to like black truffles to enjoy it! If truffle oil isn’t your thing, then you can switch to a good quality extra virgin olive oil instead.
Ingredients (serves 4):
16 Fresh scallops
16 Chorizo slices (about 1-2cm think)
200ml Dry white wine
70g Wild rocket
200g Pomodorino tomatoes (halved)
Black Truffle Oil (for dressing)
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Method:
1. Add a tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan on a high heat.
2. Fry the chorizo slices until the oil starts to come out of them.
3. Add the scallops and fry until golden on the outside but just firm to the touch.
4. Add in the white wine and remove the scallops and chorizo.
5. Allow the wine to reduce by nearly half, meanwhile plate the scallops and chorizo.
6. Divide the plate in two, half for the meat and the other half for the salad. Scatter wild rocket and the tomato halves on the other side.
7. Dress the salad with a light drizzle of the truffle oil, pour some of the white wine jus over the meat, season with a bit of salt and pepper and serve.
Tips:
Don’t overcook the scallops – give them a gentle press when you first place them in the pan. That is the raw feel. Press them again after 2mins of frying and you will notice the difference. When they feel firm (not hard) they are cooked through. Although there is nothing wrong with slightly undercooked scallops – overcooked spoils them.
It’s possible to make this into a main course, just scale up the quantities.