You are here:

Scallops with cime di rape

Theo Randall from Market Kitchen
The slightly bitter cime di rape, a popular Italian green, complement the sweet pan-fried scallops in Theo Randall’s recipe

Scallops with cime di rape

Method

1. Crush the fennel and chilli together in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. Heat a heavy frying pan and add the fennel seeds, chilli and garlic. Lightly fry for 1-2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, blanch the cima di rape leaves in a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds, then add the stalks. Once the cima di rape is cooked, remove from the water and add to the frying pan with the fennel seeds, chilli and garlic. Lightly fry for a few more minutes.

3. Remove the cima di rape from the pan and chop finely. Put it back in the pan along with the lentils and heat through with a splash of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Season the scallops with salt and pepper and rub with olive oil, place in a pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until slightly caramelised and just cooked. Add the chopped parsley and capers.

5. To serve, pile the cimi di rape into the cleaned scallop shells, spoon over a few lentils and top with the scallops. Garnish with the chilli, parsley and capers.

Cook’s note
Cima de rape is a slightly bitter cooking green, known variously as broccoli rabe or raab and rapini. The leafy parts of the turnip are obtained from most varieties of turnip roots. These greens are excellent chopped in salads or cooked briefly and used as a colourful side dish. If you can’t find cima di rape, you can use broccoli instead.

Comments add a comment

Be the first to add a comment...

Serves: 1-2

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 20 min

Ingredients
1 tsp Fennel seeds
1 dried chilli
250g cima di rape, leaves removed from stalks, thick parts of the stalks sliced at the bottom
1 clove Garlic, sliced
2 tbsp Lentils, boiled with garlic and sage
6-8 Scallops, removed from shell and trimmed, shells reserved and cleaned for serving
1 tsp chopped Parsley
1 tsp capers