Lamb & Scallops

Lamb & Scallops

If you’re looking to up your Easter weekend, try your hand at this Lamb & Scallops recipe from SOLE Seafood and Grill.

Treat your guests to a dish worthy of a head chef with this Specials Easter recipe for Lamb & Scallops created by Culinary Director, Richie Wilson.

While you are in Dublin City and want to try the Lamb & Scallops, visit SOLE.

Lamb & Scallops Ingredients

Lamb Confit

• 1 Shoulder of Lamb, boned
• 1bn Thyme
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 1bn Parsley
• 5 Garlic Cloves
• 3.5kg Duck Fat
• 3 Shallots, Finely Diced
• 100g Chives, Finely Chopped
• 100g Flat Leaf Parsley, Finely Chopped

Scallops

• 18 Large Whole Scallops, roe intact
• .5 Lemon
• 10g Unsalted Butter
• Seasoning

Puy Lentils

• 200g Smoked Bacon Lardons
• 250g Puy Lentils, rinsed
• 300ml Chicken Stock
• 100ml Beef Jus
• 100ml Red Wine
• 2 Shallots, Finely Diced
• 2 Carrots, Finely Diced
• 2 Celery Sticks, Finely Diced
• 50g Thyme, Finely Chopped
• 1 Garlic Clove, crushed

Broad Beans

• 300g Broad Beans, peeled
• 30g Butter
• Seasoning
• 8 Very Thin Slices of Pancetta
• 50g Watercress
• Olive Oil

Method:

Lamb Confit

• This needs to be prepared a couple of days in advance. Season the entire shoulder of lamb well. Sear on a high heat getting as much colour across the lamb as possible, this will help to develop the flavour while the lamb is cooking. Place the shoulder into a deep roasting dish along with the thyme, bay leaves, garlic and duck fat. Ensure the fat completely covers the lamb when melted. Place a sheet of parchment over the fat first before covering the whole dish with a few layers of foil. Place the dish into a preheated oven at 140 degrees for 2 hours. After this time, check that the lamb easily pulls apart with just a fork, if not, return it to the oven until it is soft enough to pull apart easily.
• Once ready remove from the fat and allow to drain off as much of the fat as possible. Allow it to cool a little but just enough to make it easy to handle. Using two forks, shred the entire shoulder as much as possible. Now add in the diced shallots and chopped herbs, mix well and check the seasoning.
• When you are happy with how the lamb tastes, take two containers of the same size that will fit inside each other. Line one with parchment paper and fill with the shredded lamb. This should be 1 to 2 inches deep, place another sheet of parchment over the top. Now place the second container on top and add as much weight to this as possible. Place this in the fridge to compress and set overnight.
• Once set, remove the lamb and cut into rectangular shape portions that will support 3 scallops on top, you should easily get 6 from this lamb.  When you are ready to serve, heat a nonstick pan over a moderate heat. Season each portion of lamb lightly and place direct onto the pan, fry this on all sides until it has turned golden and crisp. Place these in an oven on a low heat just to keep them hot until you are ready to serve.

Puy Lentils

• Heat a heavy based pot over moderate heat, add a little vegetable oil to the base. Add in the bacon lardons and fry gently until lightly browned. Now, add in the diced vegetables, herbs and garlic, turn this continuously over the heat until the vegetables have softened then add in the lentils and mix. Add the red wine now and boil until the wine has reduced by half, add in the stock and jus. Simmer over a low heat until the stock has thickened to a dark rich consistency and the lentils softened through. Check the seasoning and set to one side ready to serve adding in the chopped flat leaf parsley just before serving.

Broad Beans

• These need very little effort, once peeled add to a pot with a little butter over a moderate heat with a little seasoning until hot through. Set to one side for serving.

Scallops

• We want to use the whole scallop in the restaurant. So often the bright orange roe is discarded from the scallop, removed by chefs just to have the perfect scallop appearance. But this adds great flavour to the scallop and another layer of texture to the dish. Keep the scallop whole and give the scallop a light clean with the back of a knife before placing them on a clean cloth to dry a little. This will help to get a really good sear on the scallop, going on to the pan very dry.
• Heat a nonstick pan to a moderately high heat. Drizzle each side of the scallops with a little olive oil and season lightly with just a little salt. Scallops do have a nice presentation side which when you look closely is more smooth than the other, this is the side to put onto the pan first, this will give that beautiful gold ring to it. Allow the scallop to sear for just 3-4 minutes before turning and adding a few tea spoons of unsalted butter to the pan. Allow the scallops to based in this for another 2-3 minutes before squeezing the lemon over them while the pan is still hot. This will reduce the lemon quickly and it will begin to caramelize along with the butter. Now tilt the pan to one side and spoon the juice (basting) over the scallops continuously for another minute or so. Remove the scallops from the pan to a warm tray and pour all of the lemon butter over them.

To Present

• Spoon the lentils across the centre of the plate, place a portion of lamb on top. Spoon some of the beans around the plate. Place 3 scallops on top of each portion of lamb. To finish the dish, balsamic pearls give a wonderful hit of acidity that cuts through some of those heavier fats but if you cannot find these, a few drops of balsamic vinegar (reduction if possible) around the plate. Garnish with a few pea shoots to freshen up the whole dish.
• Enjoy!