French · Starter
Coquilles Saint-Jacques
Scallops baked in their shells under a vermouth velouté and golden crumb — retro in the best way, and pure theatre at the table
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- King scallops, roe off — 12 (about 360 g)
- Scallop shells (or small gratin dishes) — 4
- Button mushrooms, sliced — 150 g
- Shallots, minced — 60 g
- Unsalted butter — 70 g
- Dry vermouth — 80 ml
- Fish stock — 150 ml
- Double cream — 150 ml
- Plain flour — 15 g
- Fine breadcrumbs — 40 g
- Gruyère, grated — 40 g
- Lemon juice — 10 ml
- Fine salt — 5 g
- White pepper — 1 g
Method
- Sear scallops hard in 20 g butter, 45 sec per side; remove (they stay rare inside). Quarter them.
- In the same pan, sweat shallots and mushrooms in 20 g butter, 5 min.
- Dust with flour, cook 1 min; add vermouth and stock, whisking, then cream. Simmer 4 min to a coating sauce; season with salt, pepper, lemon.
- Fold scallops into the sauce off the heat.
- Fill shells; top with breadcrumbs mixed with Gruyère and remaining 30 g melted butter.
- Gratinate at 220 °C for 8–10 min until bubbling and golden.