Hand dived scallops and pardina lentils with white wine and serrano ham - Rick Stein

“I love the combination of lentils and scallops, they work so well together. We have two experienced divers who work for us at The Seafood Restaurant, supplying our hand-dived scallops from the South coast of Cornwall. It’s very popular at the restaurant, the Iberico ham we’re using (Iberico de Bellota) is 100% acorn fed and is the best cured ham in the world. The pardina lentils are also the best, although if you can’t get hold of them opt for French Puy lentils. I spent some time with Rick testing many of his new Spanish recipes, but this is definitely my favourite dish from the new book.”

Stephane Delourme, head chef of The Seafood Restaurant.

© Recipe adapted from Rick Stein's Spain, courtesy of BBC Books, published in 2011.

Serves 6

Ingredients

12 hand-dived scallops

225g green-brown lentils, such as pardina

8 tbsp olive oil

1 head garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

200g carrot, finely chopped

100g thinly sliced serrano ham, finely chopped

1 tbsp pimentón dulce (smoked sweet Spanish paprika)

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, skinned and chopped

120ml dry white wine

1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

Wash the scallops to remove any sand and weed from the shells. Hold a scallop in one hand, with the flat shell facing uppermost, and slide the blade of a sharp, thin-bladed, flexible knife between the two shells. Keeping the blade of the knife flat against the top shell, feel for the ligament that joins the meat of the scallop to the shell. Slide the knife under the scallop meat, keeping the blade close to the shell, and cut it away. Pull off and discard the small white ligament attached to the side of the scallop meat. Cut through it and lift off the top shell. Pull out the frilly ‘skirt’ and black stomach sac which surrounds the white scallop meat and pink coral. Rinse away any sand from the inside of the shell.  Scoop out the scallop and slice horizontally into 2 thinner discs, leaving the roe attached to one slice. 

Check over the lentils for any little stones, then rinse in cool water. Tip them into a saucepan, add cold water to cover them by 5cm and bring to the boil over a high heat. Lower the heat and leave them to simmer for about 30 minutes or until just tender but still a little al dente. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid, and set to one side. Put the olive oil, garlic, onion and carrot in a wide, shallow pan over a middle heat and cook gently for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and beginning to colour. Add the serrano ham and fry for another 5 minutes.

Put the pimentón, tomatoes and wine and simmer for 5 minutes or until they have reduced and thickened into a sauce. Stir the lentils into the sauce with 150ml of the reserved cooking liquid, the chopped parsley, 1 ½ teaspoons of salt and some pepper and simmer together for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, set the pan over a high heat and place the scallops in with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some salt and pepper and toss together well. Sear them for 2 minutes on each side, pressing down on them lightly with a palette knife so that they take on a good colour. Cook on each side for two minutes.

To serve, place a large spoonful of the lentils into each shell and then place a scallop on top.

( Last Updated: 28-09-2011 )