Delight your mum on Mother’s Day with this simple but splendid starter

Good food should be central to any celebration, and Mother’s Day is surely no exception. In fact, it’s the perfect opportunity to treat and indulge, and what better way of doing that than with scallops. Instead of eating out this year, why not surprise your mum with a special lunch cooked at home?  That’s what we’re doing! This classic scallop starter is the perfect way to kick off a meal to remember.

Seared scallops with pea purée and crispy pancetta

Serves 4

Scallops aren’t cheap, but because the other ingredients are so modest and few, you really won’t need to spend a fortune.

• 12 large scallops (hand dived)
• 8 slices of pancetta (or streaky smoked bacon)
• 400g frozen petit pois
• A handful of chopped fresh mint
• Squeeze of lemon
• A little butter and oil

Preheat oven to 200 c

First of all, cook the pancetta. To keep it nice and flat, we put the pancetta on some baking parchment on a baking tray. Then put another sheet on parchment on top on the bacon, and another baking tray on top of that. Put that in the oven for approximately 10 minutes (or until it’s good and crispy). Keep it warm when it’s cooked

To make the pea purée, just cover the peas with water (or good quality chicken or vegetable stock if you have it) Bring to the boil for about 2 minutes, then blitz with the mint, a dash of olive oil, lemon and plenty of salt and pepper. Keep that warm too.

Heat a knob of butter and a small drizzle of oil in a large frying pan. When the butter’s very hot and foaming, cook the scallops for about a minute on each side, depending on their size. They should be golden on the outside, and just cooked through.

Serve immediately on hot plates, with the scallops sitting on top of the pea purée, and the pancetta balanced on top of the scallops. Goes very nicely with a chilled sauvignon blanc.

Enjoy, and happy Mother’s Day!

Scallops are very versatile, and go with so many different flavours. For more ideas on how to eat yours, do get in contact at elizabethcaton@ymail.com