SCALLOPS WITH WILD GARLIC BUTTER

Hand-diving is the most sustainable way to source scallops, as there’s no bycatch or damage to the seabed. Ours are hand-picked by diver James Moyle – and are of such high quality that the less we do to them, the better.

Preparation 20 minutes Cooking 10 minutes Serves 4

FOR THE WILD GARLIC BUTTER

30G WILD GARLIC LEAVES (OR A COUPLE OF GARLIC CLOVES) A GOOD PINCH OF MALDON SEA SALT

100G UNSALTED HIGH-QUALITY BUTTER, SOFTENED

FOR THE SCALLOPS

12 SCALLOPS

1 TBSP RAPESEED OIL

A PINCH OF SALT

SEA VEG OR LEMON WEDGES, TO SERVE

1 Preheat the oven to 200ºc (180ºc fan) gas mark 6.

2 To make the garlic butter, wash and pat dry the wild garlic leaves and add to a blender with the salt. Add the softened butter and blitz at high speed until well incorporated.

3 Put in a tub to firm up in the fridge (any left over can be cut into cubes and frozen for a future dish).

4 Heat the grill. Wash the scallops and pat dry on a kitchen towel. Drizzle over the rapeseed oil, sprinkle with some salt and put them back in their shell. Cook in the oven for 3-4 minutes, add a couple of small nuggets of garlic butter to each shell and finish under the hot grill for a further 2 minutes or so.

5 We serve the scallops in their shells over some wet rock salt to keep them stable, with a combination of fresh or pickled sea veg to bring some acidity. Alternatively, serve with a wedge of lemon.

1 To make the stock, cut the vegetables into large cubes and put in a large pan with enough water to just cover them. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the herb stalks and boil for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, peppercorns, white wine and salt.

2 Leave overnight in the fridge. The following day, pass the mixture through a sieve.

3 To make the basil oil, prepare a pan of boiling salted water and a separate bowl of iced water. Take the basil leaves and blanch for 1 minute in the boiling water. Drain and place into ice-cold water until cold. Drain and pat dry on kitchen paper.

4 Add the basil to a small blender or spice grinder and pour over the rapeseed oil until it reaches the same level as the top of the leaves (around 100ml).

5 Blitz on a high speed for 2-3 minutes, then let it chill over ice. You can pass this through a muslin cloth or leave as it is if you want a more rustic look.

6 To make the soup, pod the fresh peas and blanch in salted boiling water for 2 minutes; refresh in iced water and drain. If you’re using frozen peas, they’re fine to use straight from the freezer (and this helps keep the temperature down if you’re serving the soup straightaway). Chill.

7 Put the peas in a bigger jug blender, add the chilled vegetable stock and cover to the top of the peas. Start blending on low, then gradually increase the speed. You might need to adjust the amount of stock you’re adding, depending on how thick you want your soup. Season to taste.

8 When ready to serve, pour the soup into a chilled bowl, add a dollop of crème fraîche and drizzle a little basil oil on top. Garnish with whichever herbs and petals you prefer – we use fennel tops, chives, borage and nasturtiums.