Is there anything quite as decadent as a mouthful of scallop and bacon? A fresh, sweet scallop and a smokey salty streaky bacon. Oh gawd.
Scallop season here in New Zealand starts from late August and runs right through until February. The most common is known as the Nelson scallop, though most people here just call these “scallops”. Now that I’ve had both the tiny queen scallop and the popular Nelson scallop, I am confident that the Nelson scallop is lovelier by miles. They are our default scallop for a good reason!
Market value is roughly $1NZ / $0.82US per scallop which makes them a treat, but affordable every now and then. Part of what makes them good value is how easy they are to cook. I don’t like things that are both expensive and difficult to cook.
Nelson scallops are sold and eaten with the bright orange coral or roe. When at their peak, they are both rich and sweet. Nelson scallops are small, averaging just 30 to 40mm (1.2″ to 1.6″) and are ideal eaten as a tasty bite sized morsel, or supsended in a creamy sauce. When I buy a bag of fresh scallops (30 scallops), I like to cook them two ways. Maybe that’s greedy. Maybe that’s genius. In any case, my recipes are below. Have one or the other or both.
As a starter, I would allow 3 to 6 scallops per person and this recipe is for 3 scallops and can easily be multiplied by the number of people you have. If you are entertaining, you can wrap these up in the morning and keep refrigerated, then pop them into the oven after your guests arrive.
Scallops wrapped in bacon
Ingredients
1 rasher streaky bacon
3 scallops
Butter, melted
Preparation
- Pre-heat oven to grill 220°C (broil 430°F).
- Arrange scallops on a clean tea towel and lightly pat dry.
- Cut each strip of bacon into thirds and tightly wrap each scallop with a length of bacon, overlapping the bacon over itself by about 1cm. Secure with a toothpick by piercing through the two layers of overlapping bacon, the scallop and the bacon on the opposite side.
- Set aside on an oven proof dish. Repeat with remaining scallops and bacon.
- Drop a few drops of melted butter on each wrapped scallop. Grill (broil) for 5 minutes each side until bacon is cooked. Serve with a creamy dip such as tartare sauce or chipotle dressing.
Creamy bacon and scallops
Serves 2
Ingredients
3 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
50 grams butter (3.5 tablespoons)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
20 scallops
1/2 cup cream
To serve: Chopped parsley, pasta or bread
Preparation
- Arrange scallops on a clean tea towel and lightly pat dry.
- Melt butter in a hot frying pan, add bacon and garlic. Fry for 2 minutes until bacon is just cooked.
- Add scallops and fry for 4 minutes, turning once. Be careful of angry fat spatter. No pain no gain!
- Stir in cream and serve on pasta or with thick, lightly toasted bread. Scatter with chopped parsley.
Other posts you may be interested in:
Spring Scallop Salad
Make Bacon
Steamed Garlic Prawns
Ika Mata
Scallops + bacon = one of the best food pairings EVER.
With a sliver of avocado on top? Or perhaps with a side of guac?
I can *totally* see a slice of avocado on top of a bacon-wrapped scallop being DIVINE.
Now I want one.
I love scallops!!
And we all know everything is just better with bacon…..
This is so yummy.
I also had scallops and chorizo at a restaurant once….. Go Surf n Turf!
Scallops and chorizo is the grown up version of this. I bet the smokey spicy flavour was amazeballs.
Gorgeous! Just gorgeous!
Thank you My French Heaven 🙂
Scallopsandporkarethebestshitever
I concur!
You make meat look lovely! I have nominated you for a Reality Blog Award. Come collect! 🙂 x http://www.foodmyfriend.com/2012/12/reality-blog-award/comment-page-1/#comment-28013
Scallops wrapped in bacon are the best Jerry, THE BEST! The pasta dish looks moreish too. YUM. Since we’re not near the coast, scallops come flash frozen to us or in a brine, so there is no season for them. I prefer to buy ours frozen instead of in the brine because the brine adds a weird flavour and the frozen one’s are done so on the boat, so they are really fresh.
lol. Jerry? If we weren’t near the cost, I’m sure we’d use flash frozen scallops too. Are the brined ones like marinated mussels? Never seen a brined scallop. Marinated mussels here are fantastic. They’re in season too so they’re big and tasty. Don’t get me wrong, I love non marinated mussels too. I’ve had both this week!
They brine the scallops to preserve them without freezing, but I personally feel that flash freezing preserves the flavour and freshness better. You can even smell how sweet they are even when they are frozen.
Hilarous! Another time Jerry? Naw….
Oh beautiful! I love the corals. You can never go wrong with bacon and scallops.
Scallops are always served with coral in NZ. It’s half of the fun. I’m always a bit disappointed when eating scallop overseas when they don’t include the coral. It’s the creamiest bit.
It’s my favorite part. I find that I always have to argue with fishmongers to keep it!
Oh sweet mercy, I can practically taste that. Girl can cook. I need to buy some of these this week!
You really can’t go wrong with that combo 🙂
Wow you my friend out done yourself, look at that beautiful dish!