6 Minute Meal & Deal: Aqimero's Roasted Scallops with English Peas

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Wednesday, March 4, 2020
6 Minute Meal & Deal: Aqimero's  Roasted Scallops
In this week's 6 Minute Meal & a Deal, Alicia Vitarelli learns the recipe for Aqimero's Roasted Scallops.

The Meal: Roasted Scallops with English Peas and Orange Beurre Blanc from Chef Vince Giannini of

Aqimero at The Ritz Carlton, Philadelphia

Recipe (Serves Four)

Ingredients for scallops:

1 lb. dry sea scallops (U10 size)

2 tsp. unsalted butter *Optional

2 tsp. blended oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for beurre blanc sauce:

1 orange

cup Chardonnay or Grenache Blanc white wine

2 tsp. shallot (minced) * Optional

lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter - very cold and cut into tb-sized pieces

Salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for Pea Puree:

2 cups peas (preferably fresh, but can use frozen if necessary)

Salt & pepper to taste

cup water

2 sprigs mint

For the peas:

Quickly blanch the peas in boiling water (2-3 minutes) and shock in an ice bath to thwart cooking process

Drain and add peas, mint, salt and pepper to a blender

Add cup of water and blend until completely pureed (add more water if necessary, until desired consistency)

Microgreens *Optional Garnish for finished dish

Method:

For the scallops

Add blended oil to a 14-inch sauté pan on high heat

Chef Tip: Use a blended oil. The high heat cooking will burn olive oil and give the scallops a bitter taste

Salt and pepper the scallops on both sides

Once the pan starts to smoke lightly, add the scallops making sure they aren't crowded

Sear the scallops, cooking 80% of the way on the first side to give it a nice color and then flip and cook the remaining 20%

Chef Tip: Cook about 4 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the 2nd

Chef Tip: At the end of the cooking process, you can also add a little butter to the pan if you like and baste the scallops with butter.

For the English pea puree

Blanche peas in water

Set aside cup of peas, puree remaining peas with some of the water from blanching and a sprig of mint

For the sauce

Juice and zest orange - reserve

Boil orange juice, wine, shallot, salt and pepper

Chef Tip: You can hold the orange from the sauce and add juice and zest to the finished dish. The shallots are optional

Lower heat and reduce sauce by half over medium heat (roughly 6-8 minutes)

Chef Tip: You can prepare the sauce ahead of time and reheat just before use

Turn off heat and start slowly whisking in butter one bit at a time to ensure sauce doesn't break

Chef Tip: It's an emulsified sauce so be sure to add cold butter to the white wine to give it a creamy, velvety consistency

To serve

Spoon English pea puree into a line on your serving plate

Add 4 scallops to the plate, abutting the puree

Add reserved English peas to your beurre blanc and heat

Chef Tip: Do not overheat. You just want it hot

Drizzle sauce along edge of scallops, opposite the pea puree

Garnish with orange zest and squeeze of a fresh orange

Chef Tip: You can also garnish with microgreens

Serve immediately

At Aqimero, the scallop dish is finished with a scallop that's been cured for 1-2 day days and dried for a week, much like a charcuterie. It's a time-consuming element that brings out the scallop flavor of the dish.

Cure

Sprinkle salt on both sides of scallops and pat dry 1 cup

The Deal: Complimentary Amuse Bouche with any purchase when you mention seeing the segment on 6abc. Offer good through Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Aqimero at the Ritz Carlton

10 S. Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

(215) 523-8000

https://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/philadelphia/dining/aqimero?scid=45f93f1b-bd77-45c9-8dab-83b6a417f6fe