The scallops with chickpea and fennel cream are a simple yet refined dish. Perfect to serve as both an appetizer and a fish main course for special occasions, in this case, I chose to offer them for Christmas Eve as well as for New Year’s Eve dinner, but also for the warm Ferragosto celebration. The recipe, easy to prepare, consists of a scallop shell with a base of chickpea cream, flavored with wild fennel, and topped with scallops seared in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 3 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Fish
- Seasonality: New Year's Eve, All Seasons
Ingredients
- 5.3 oz cooked, boiled chickpeas (canned, drained)
- 4.8 oz scallops (3 pieces, without shell, thawed)
- 1 shallot
- to taste wild fennel
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste fine salt
- to taste black pepper
Tools
- Kitchen scale
- Pan
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Colander
- Food processor
- Spatula
- 3 Scallop shells
- Spoon
- Tongs
- Paper towels
- Wooden spoon
Steps
To prepare the scallops with chickpea and fennel cream…
Take the shallot, slice it, and place it in a pan to brown with the extra virgin olive oil.
When it is golden, add the canned, boiled, drained, and rinsed chickpeas from the preserving liquid then sauté them in the pan for a few minutes to flavor them.
Then transfer the chickpeas to the food processor, add a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and fennel. Operate it until you get a smooth and homogeneous cream. If necessary to blend the cream well, you can add very little water.
You can keep the cream warm in a saucepan being careful not to let it stick by adding a little water or heat it in the microwave.
In the pan where you sautéed the chickpeas, add a little extra virgin olive oil, heat it, and then lay out the scallops, first dried with paper towels. Cook them for about 2 minutes per side, lowering the heat and gently turning them with tongs.
Then take the shells, with the spoon place a little chickpea cream in the center and over the seared scallops.
Finally garnish with fennel and if desired a sprinkle of pepper and a drizzle of oil. Serve them hot as soon as they are ready.
Variations
If you don’t have wild fennel, you can replace it with dill. You can use either fresh or frozen scallops after thawing.
If you don’t have wild fennel, you can replace it with dill. You can use either fresh or frozen scallops after thawing.
