Scallop with Sheep’s Cheese, Tomato and Brown Butter Recipe
40 minutes plus at least 24 hours pickling
- 1 large tomato, ideally Great White variety
- 4 hand-dived scallops, shucked, cleaned and left to air-dry in the fridge (reserve the shells)
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 50ml of brown butter
- finely chopped chives, to garnish
- marigold leaves, to garnish
- 100g of sheep's-milk cheese, (rinds and trim are fine)
- 200ml of whey
- 100ml of water
- 15g yellow pea flour
- 20g Spenwood cheese, or other hard sheep's milk cheese
- 5g of salt
- 1 pinch of coarsely ground black pepper
- 10g of coriander seeds
- 50g of white wine vinegar
- 25g of water
- 25g of caster sugar
- Begin by pickling the coriander seeds. Put the vinegar, water and sugar in a pan, heat until the sugar dissolves, then pour the liquid over the coriander seeds. Cover and leave at room temperature for at least 24 hours
- To make the cheese sauce, put the cheese rinds, whey and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth, then pass through a fine sieve. Weigh out 300ml of the liquid and put it in a clean saucepan
- Bring the liquid to a boil, then whisk in the pea flour to thicken. Add the cheese and salt, then blitz in a blender once more. Add the pepper, leave to infuse for 10 minutes, then strain through a chinois or fine sieve. Keep warm
- Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Score the bottom of the tomato, blanch it in boiling water for 10 seconds, then transfer to iced water. Peel off and discard the skin
- Chop the tomato until a coarse purée is achieved, then transfer to a sieve and allow to drain lightly
- Put a cast iron skillet over a high heat (ideally charcoal) and allow to get smoking hot. Add a dash of oil, then season the scallops with sea salt and cook undisturbed until they gain a dark golden crust. Turn them over and allow to rest gently above the coals
- Transfer the drained chopped tomato to a small saucepan and combine with the brown butter, shallot and drained coriander seeds. Allow to gently warm through
- To serve, slice the scallop into 2-3 pieces. Add a spoonful of the cheese sauce to the base of each scallop shell, then place the sliced scallop neatly on top. Add a generous spoonful of the tomato dressing, then garnish with chives and marigold leaves
The classic combination of cheese and tomato gets applied to the crown jewel of Scottish seafood – the scallop – in Joe Otway’s beautiful recipe. The result is a dish that offers everything you could want; smoky salinity from the scallop, silky creaminess from the cheese sauce and a sweet, nutty piquancy from the tomato dressing, enriched with brown butter for good measure.
Joe says: “Scallops should only be used if they are dived by hand and not dredged. The latter is a method responsible for much destruction to the seabed resulting in loss of vital habitats and poor ocean health.
The scallops we use are sourced via Lewis Lowrie in Fife and are hand-dived off the coast of the Isle of Skye. When handling scallops such as these, we prefer to open them as soon as they arrive when they are still alive. We then separate the flesh into two separate parts – the scallop meat and the skirts/roe. We choose to allow the scallop meat to air-dry on an open tray in the fridge for a few days to intensify the flavour and create a firm, fudgy, drier texture.
The scallop skirts are rinsed and scrubbed thoroughly in salt water to purge them of any sand, leaving us with an incredible product that can be braised or dehydrated for infusing into stocks.
In this recipe we pair the scallops with warm, end-of-summer tomato. Over the years, we’ve grown lots of different varieties in our greenhouses at our farm Cinderwood, and have a specific reason for loving each of them in different ways. The Great White variety is treasured by us because it has almost no seeds or water, a thin skin and lots of meaty yellow flesh which makes it perfect for using warm, as very little liquid runs out.
Marigold leaf provides a perfect zesty finish, and feels like it should be there, as it grows underneath the tomatoes in the greenhouse all summer providing vital pest resistance for them.”
