Queen scallops with sauternes butter

35 MINUTES SERVES 4 | EASY |

Not only are queenies incredibly sweet but their little shells mean they end up swamped in this delicious butter sauce. Ask your fishmonger to clean and prep the scallops in a half shell with the roes attached.

queen scallops in the half shell 12-16, depending on size

GARLIC BUTTER garlic 1-2 cloves sea salt flakes unsalted butter 75g, softened SAUTERNES SAUCE sauternes 100ml echalion shallot 1 small, finely diced moscatel vinegar 2 tsp unsalted butter 100g, cold and cubed chives a few, snipped to serve

• For the garlic butter, use a pestle and mortar to pound the garlic with a pinch of sea salt flakes until smooth and creamy. Fold through the softened butter until evenly mixed. Alternatively, whizz the garlic and salt in a small food processor, then add the butter and whizz again.

• In a small pan, simmer the sauternes, diced shallot and vinegar until reduced to about a tablespoon. Keeping the pan half on and half off a very low heat, slowly whisk in the cold butter, only adding more once the last piece has melted in, until you have a smooth, emulsified sauce. Season. (The pan should never reach a higher temperature than your hand can bear to touch – if it gets too hot it will split and you’ll have to start again.)

• Heat the grill to high. Season and cover each scallop with garlic butter, then grill for 2-3 minutes or until charred and cooked through. Spoon over the sauternes sauce and sprinkle with chives before serving.

PER SERVING 398 KCALS | FAT 38.4G SATURATES 22.9G | CARBS 3.4G | SUGARS 0.8G FIBRE 0.3G | PROTEIN 9.7G | SALT 0.9G

GF