Since winning MasterChef: The Professionals, life has been a whirlwind. The restaurant has been busy with bookings, we’ve introduced new MasterChef-inspired menus and are now open for lunch as well as dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, so I’ve had very little time to rest up.
There’s a great camaraderie in the kitchen at Rocca in St Andrews – food is our passion, fresh produce is at the heart of all our menus and working with Scottish suppliers is a key factor in our success.
I find scallops is an ingredients many people feel shy of cooking at home, when in fact they can be included in a variety of easy to cook recipes.
Roasted Scallops, blood orange, chicory and hazelnuts. Picture Alan Richardson
Jamie will be competing in the Scottish Chef of the Year live final at the ScotHot Exhibition on 5 March at the SECC.
The scallops used in this recipe were sourced in Oban and I love the fusion of unusual, surprising ingredients.
Method
1 To make the dressing, mix the mustard, most of the orange juice, honey and vinegar together, then slowly add the hazelnut oil until emulsified. Remove a mix of chicory leaves from the water, pat dry and add to the dressing, add the hazelnuts and sliced blood orange and gently mix together.
2 Season the scallops with a mixture of the curry powder and sea salt, then cook in a hot pan for 1 minute, add the butter and turn the scallops over. Add the final squeeze of orange juice, coat in the melted butter and remove from the pan.
3 Neatly place the scallops on the plate, arrange the chicory leaves, chard and blood orange slices around the scallops and finish with the dressing, hazelnuts and a drizzle of hazelnut oil.
