Scallops in White Wine Sauce
Scallops in White Wine Sauce
Mamta Gupta
Scallops can be bought fresh, in their shells or as pre-cleaned and frozen. For this recipe, frozen ones work quite well too. If you put fresh scallops in warm water or a hot oven for a few minutes, the shell gapes open and the scallop flesh can be priced apart with a sharp knife easily. Lift out the flesh very gently from the shells. Save the shells, to use to serve them. This is a traditional way of cooking them, but you can spice them up by adding a thinly sliced green chilli or 1/2 tsp. of chilli flakes to the sauce.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
12 scallops, frozen or removed from their shells
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
8-10 peppercorns, roughly broken with a rolling pin or by pressing with the back of a knife
1 bay leaf
A few parsley leaves, washed and roughly broken up
1/3 cup water
For the Sauce:
45 gm. (1 1/2 oz) butter
45 gm. (1 1/2 oz) white flour
350 ml. (3/4 pint) milk
1/2 cup white wine
Strained liquid from the scallops
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup grated cheddar or Gruyère cheese
Instructions
Fresh scallops should be washed thoroughly to remove any sand. Frozen ones are pre-cleaned.
Place onions, water, bay leaf, peppercorns parsley and water in a pan and bring to boil.
Add scallops, bring to boil, close the lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
Strain through a sieve, saving the liquid for the sauce. Keep scallops aside, discarding all other solids.
Making sauce:
Dissolve flour in a little cold milk. Keep aside.
Bring rest of the milk to boil, add butter and then gently stir in the flour-milk mix, stirring all the time.
Add the reserved liquid from the scallops.
Boil briskly until the sauce is quite thick.
Turn heat off, add wine and stir thoroughly. Do not boil after adding wine or sauce might curdle.
Stir in 2/3rd of both the cheeses and mix. Allow to cool.
Add scallops and transfer either to a shallow serving dish or individual serving shells.
Sprinkle rest of the grated cheese mix on top.
Just before serving, place in a hot oven until the cheese bubbles and turns brown...ish.
Serve immediately, with green leaf salad or fresh bread.
Notes
This recipe can be used for peeled prawns or any firm fleshed fish.