So, when I was thinking of what to pair with this fabulous cava one thing came to mind: Scallops!

 

I love them, but they aren't always easy to find and they are not cheap! So if you can't find any, or you don't want to fork out the extra €€, you could easily substitute shrimp or monkfish. Traditionally romesco is a nut and red pepper-based sauce originated from Tarragona, Catalonia, in Northeastern Spain which is the same region that this cava is produced.

 

Both the cava and the romesco sauce pair perfectly with fish, so why not bring them together in a recipe?

 

Ingredients:

Serves 4

2 oz. raw almonds, blachned, peeled
1 oz. hazelnuts, peeled
5 plumb tomatoes
1/4 cup (plus extra for cooking) extra virgin olive oil
1 large roasted red pepper (from a jar)
2 oz. dense white bread, toasted and cubed
1 head of garlic, sliced in half
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
3 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. sweet paprika
  salt and pepper
   
1 kg sea scallops
500 g mâché

Method: 

 

For the sauce:

You can make the romesco sauce the day before to make things easier. Just put it in a container and store it in the refrigerator. Slice garlic horizontally exposing the cloves and place in a baking dish with tomatoes. Slather the garlic and tomatoes with two tablespoons of olive oil and bake for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Toast nuts in a pan over medium heat. The nuts will toast fast and can burn easily. So don't walk away to go answer your phone or they might burn. If they burn even a little, throw them out and start again, or your sauce will also taste burnt. When the garlic is soft, take the dish out of the oven and let the garlic and the tomatoes cool a bit so they are easy to handle. Squeeze the garlic cloves out if it's paper shell and into the bowl of a food processor. Peel the skin off of the tomato, remove the seeds and add the tomato to the bowl with the garlic. Next add the nuts, bread, vinegar, olive oil, paprika and red pepper. Purée until smooth and season with salt and pepper to taste. You can warm it up a bit in a pan before you serve it.

 

For the scallops:

Did you chill your cava? Good, now onto the scallops. First, remove the side-muscle from each scallop. This is the little tag of muscle tissue on the side of the scallop that holds it to the shell. Pat the scallop dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot enough add the scallops flat side down. You will know when the pan is hot enough if the first scallop sizzles when it touches the pan. If it doesn't sizzle, wait a bit longer. Don't overcrowd the pan and leave about two centimeters between each scallop. Work in batches if you have to. Flip each scallop over when it removes easily from the bottom of the pan. If it sticks, wait a few minutes longer. When the second side is seared enough, remove it from the pan.

 

Serve over greens tossed with a bit of olive oil and a few dollops of romesco sauce immediately. Now! Now! Now!