The scallop, which is also known as coquille St-Jacques in French, is probably one of the best known, appreciated and loved types of shellfish, even by those that are generally not so keen on fish or seafood.

I have always adored gratinated scallops, so simple and quick to make. Plum, juicy scallops are covered with enriched breadcrumb mixture and then quickly baked. Despite its simplicity, they feel so luxurious and festive and very impressive, especially when served in their shells.

The use of the scallop shell goes back to medieval times when it was used to pour holy water on the head of the baptized members of the congregation, and it had a very practical purpose and served as a replacement for a bowl so the pilgrims could use them to hold their food and drink on their long journey on the Camino de Santiago, or in English the Way of St. James, i.e. the pilgrim trail leading to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia in north-western Spain, and the shrine of St. James, one of the original apostles, and it is widely travelled today.

The scallop shell scoop would also serve as the measure for the food the pilgrims would receive, donated by local churches and other establishments.

This is a great and very tasty starter for special occasions and there are a lot of variations of this dish. The most familiar variation of it to me, which I grew up with, is eating it in the Venetian style (called Capesante a la Selvadega in Venetian dialect). This is another example of a dish that left significant footprints in the region due to strong presence in the territory of the Serenissima (i.e. ‘the Most Serene Republic of Venice’).

No matter how you prefer making them, scallops are a healthy eating option as they mainly consist of protein and healthy omega-3 fat, are rich in vitamin B12 and zinc, all of which are essential for a healthy brain.

Great to freeze and can be prepared in advance.

For this recipe, you can buy fresh scallops and clean them yourself or buy the ones that have been cleaned already by the fishmonger but still sold in their original shell. You can, however, buy already cleaned fresh or frozen scallops without the shell and use the ramekins to cook and serve them in.

If you buy the fresh scallops in their original shell, I would suggest you keep them for the future use. Brush them well, wash them in a hot soapy water or you can even put them in the dishwasher.

Whether you buy them fresh or frozen you really want to make sure they are caught using sustainable fishing methods.

Ingredients

Serves 4

12 large fresh scallops (separated from their shell and cleaned)
12 clean concave scallop shell to be used as cooking and serving dishes (or ramekins)
120g breadcrumbs
1 clove of garlic (peeled and pressed)
vegetable stock, 1-2 Tsp per scallop (using a good quality instant vegetable stock is perfectly fine)
fresh flat leaf parsley, about a handful (7g), very finely chopped
fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese) (about 30g), finely grated
extra virgin olive oil (about 4 Tbsp)
sea salt, to taste
butter, few knobs
lemon wedges, for serving

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C static.

First of all, make the breadcrumb mixture. In a mixing bowl put the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese and extra virgin olive oil. With the fork stir and mix so that all the ingredients combine well. You should end up with a moist breadcrumb mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt.

Place the deep, concave shells (or ramekins if using) with scallops on a baking tray. With a small spoon pour the vegetable stock over each scallop.

Spoon 1-2 Tbsp of the breadcrumb mixture over each scallop and press down the breadcrumb mixture slightly with the back of the spoon.

Add a knob of butter on the top of each scallop. At this stage you can freeze the prepared scallops if not used immediately.

Bake in preheated oven for about 10 min until the breadcrumbs turn nice golden colour. Do not overbake the scallops as they will dry too much.

Serve hot with lemon wedges on the side.

Just a thought

You can use the same breadcrumb topping but use mussels instead of scallops. Fantastic warm canapé served with drinks.

Wine suggestion

Friulano DOC "Toc Bas" 2018 by Ronco del Gelso, Friuli Isonzo Rive Alte.

This dish, with its simplicity, evokes those truly Mediterranean flavours, and has that real Mediterranean feel about it. It has always been incredibly popular and a real success every time it was served, be it at home or in the restaurant where it has been on the menus since I was a child, and has never gone out of fashion. Needles to say, it is one of my favourite dishes, and it is also a family favourite too!

My parents would prepare this dish over and over again and it does evoke some heart worming memories. My grandfather or my dad would go to the fish market and returned home with a full bag of octopus to clean and cook. They would display it on the kitchen table and I was really fascinated by the animal itself just admiring its long tentacles. Now to think back, it was a great biology lesson.

Octopus salad is a very simple but delicious and healthy way to eat octopus. You can eat it on its own just simply dressed or over the bed of fresh rocket salad. Traditionally you would have a nice fresh crunchy piece of bread to pick up the dressing and a glass of chilled wine to further elevate the dish, and this is exactly how my husband loves to eat it. Everyday troubles just somehow seem to disappear, at least for a while.

This tasty octopus salad can be eaten all year round, although having it as a cold salad on a hot summer's day is quite a refreshing treat.

There are a lot of stories of how you should cook the octopus to have it really nice and tender. I always cook it in the evening, then turn the heat off and leave it to cool overnight in its own liquid. The following day is wonderfully tender and surely cool enough to clean and dress.

Ingredients

Serves 4

fresh octopus, cleaned (about 1kg in weight) Most fishmongers will be happy to clean it for you.
1 stick of celery
1 carrot washed and peeled
1 small onion, peeled
1 fresh or dry bay leaf
5 whole black peppercorns
1 clove of garlic, peeled
4 Tbsp (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
7g fresh parsley (plus some extra to be finely chopped and sprinkled over the salad)
juice of 1 lemon (optional)
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
a splash of white vinegar (optional)

Method

To make a dressing, take a small bowl and add extra virgin olive oil, roughly chopped garlic and roughly chopped parsley, lemon juice (if using), a pinch of sea salt and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. Leave the dressing for at least 1 hour for all the flavours to develop.

Wash the cleaned octopus under the cold running water and put it in a large pot together with celery stick, carrot, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns. Fill the pot with cold water enough to completely cover and bring to boil. Turn down the heat and simmer with the lid covered for about 1 hour or until the octopus is cooked and fork tender.

Remove the octopus from the pot and let it cool for a bit until you find the temperature of the octopus manageable. Out of habit and simplicity, I always cook the octopus in the evening and leave it to cool overnight in its own liquid.

Clean the cooked octopus with your hands by sliding the darkish pink layer off the tentacles and the body of the octopus. This should feel very similar to when you roast the peppers and you take the skin off. You should be left with a nice pinkish white meat.

Cut the cleaned octopus head in cubes and tails in slices roughly about 1 square cm in size. Put the octopus in a bowl ready to be dressed.

Sieve the dressing over the bowl with the octopus and adjust seasoning with sea salt and pepper. Add more extra virgin olive oil if you think the dish is a bit too dry and sprinkle with fresh finely chopped flat parsley. For freshness you can add a splash of white wine vinegar, a squeeze of lemon juice or a combination of both. Mix and serve.

Just a thought

You can serve dressed octopus over the bed of fresh rocket salad.

With a dressed octopus you can also create a more substantial salad and serve it as a main dish by adding for example chopped celery sticks, some sweet cherry vine tomatoes, cold boiled potato cut in smaller pieces, black olives and finely sliced red onion.

A lovely idea to serve octopus salad is to put it on a serving dish, together with smaller plates consisting of sun dried tomatoes, a mixture of olives, different types of Mediterranean vegetables in olive oil and for sure plenty of rustic crunchy bread.

Wine suggestion

Malvasia ZGP 2016 by Hedele, Vipavska Dolina.