Scallops and bacon with samphire and peas

I’ve recently subscribed to Fishbox in an attempt to get more fresh fish into my diet which is both responsibly caught and carefully selected. My first couple of boxes have been a great adventure and I’m looking forward to eating a wider variety of fish more regularly.

Tuesday’s Fishbox brought another delicious selection which included Queen Scallops and samphire, always a favourite in our house – here’s what I did with them. The recipe makes a starter for 4 or supper for two.

Ingredients

• For the scallops
• 70g pancetta, cubed
• about half (to taste) a fresh red chilli
• a few finely chopped rosemary leaves
• knob of butter
• 200g Queen Scallops, rinsed with roes intact
• black pepper

• For the peas
• 200g fresh or frozen peas
• 100g fresh samphire
• swirl of cream

Method

1. About 45 minutes before you want to eat, put the pancetta, chilli and rosemary onto a small, shallow frying pan over a low heat. Allow the pancetta to render, releasing its fat and turning a rich mahogany colour while picking up the aroma and flavour of the rosemary and chilli.
2. Just before you’re ready to eat, place the peas and samphire in a pan and cover with boiling water to cook for 3 minutes.
3. Immediately after this, add a knob of butter to your bacon pan and turn up the heat.
4. When the butter starts to foam, add the scallops to the frying pan and cook them quickly, turning them half way through so that they pick up some colour on both sides. About 4 minutes – until the whites are no longer translucent.
5. At the end of 3 minutes drain your peas and samphire, add them back to the pan and swirl in a small amount of cream.
6. Remove the scallops from the heat, add a twist of black pepper, and serve scallops and peas together, side by side, in individual bowls.

Variations

If you want to add some extra flavour, deglaze your scallop pan with a slug of dry sherry. Or add fresh herbs – dill, basil, parsley, for example – to your peas.