Miguel Maestre’s Seared Scallop Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
• 10 basil leaves, finely chopped
• splash of extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for pan-frying and to serve
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 25 scallops on the shell
• 250 g rock salt

Method

1. Combine the chives, basil, oil, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl.
2. Remove the scallops from the shells and divide among three pieces of baking paper, placing them close together. Wash the shells for presentation and arrange on a large platter.
3. Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan over very high heat until smoky.
4. Once it's good and hot, take one piece of baking paper and flip all the scallops into the pan at the same time. The reason you do it this way is because scallops cook so quickly. If you add them one at a time, the first ones will absorb all the heat from the pan, leaving the subsequent scallops to stew rather than fry and form a beautiful golden ring (or crown) around the white flesh.
5. Sear for 1 minute on each side, then quickly remove. Wait for the pan to get smoking hot again and repeat with the remaining batches.
6. Place a small scoop of the herb mixture on each of the prepared shells, add a scallop and finish with an extra drizzle of oil. Arrange on a bed of rock salt and serve immediately.