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Writer's pictureJuliet

Naked Chef with my Clothes on - Seared Scallops with Asparagus and Baby Leeks on Magic Risotto

As everyone knows, I love me some Jamie Oliver. His original show, The Naked Chef, was an instant classic in my book (albeit disappointing that there was no actual nudity). The previous books I've done here, I'd never cooked from. Now, I'm hitting two of my well worn faves, but with recipes that I've never tried before!



The scallops come from this book, but the Roasted Sweet Garlic, Thyme, and Mascarpone Risotto with Toasted Almonds and Breadcrumbs comes from his Return of the Naked Chef book that's further down my list for this blog. His roast beef and yorkshire pud recipes are so dog-eared and stained in this one that it was a real struggle to stray, but I'm branching out!

 

Ingredients:


Scallops:

16 asparagus spears, trimmed

12 baby leeks [I had no idea what I could sub for this, so I went for one big leek]

olive oil

sea salt & pepper

1 handful fresh marjoram, leaves picked

1 lemon

12 large scallops

2 pinches five spice powder

butter


Basic Risotto:

2 pints stock

olive oil

3 shallots, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 head of celery, finely chopped

14oz risotto/arborio rice

2 wine glasses of dry white vermouth or dry white wine

sea salt & pepper

2 1/2 oz butter

4oz parmesan, grated


Magic Risotto Additions:

2 heads garlic, whole/unpeeled [Roast in a pan at 450F for ~30 minutes until soft, then squeeze out of the head]

1 handful fresh thyme, leaves picked

5 1/2oz peeled almonds, lightly chopped

2 handfuls coarse fresh breadcrumbs

olive oil

2 heaping TB mascarpone cheese

 

If you're using big leeks, cut them, then soak in a big bowl of water. Agitate to loosen dirt between the layers - it will fall to the bottom of the bowl and you can scoop up the leeks from the top! Blanch the asparagus and leeks in salted boiling pan for a couple of minutes, until just tender, drain, and set aside for later. [Not sure I would do this if I made this again - would probably cook the leeks low and slow and add the asparagus for the last 5 minutes]



Work on the risotto first, as it will take the longest. Heat the stock in a pot. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil, add the shallots, chopped garlic, and celery, fry slowly for about 4 minutes. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.



The rice will start to fry, keep stirring. When it looks translucent, add the vermouth/wine and keep stirring. Once it cooks into your rice, add your first ladle of hot stock, the roasted garlic, thyme, and a pinch of salt. Turn down to a high-ish simmer so the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and allowing to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take about 15 minutes. Taste the rice - is it cooked? Keep adding stock until rice is soft with a slight bite.


Remove from heat and add butter and parmesan, stir gently, place a lid on the pan and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. While that's sitting, toast the almonds and breadcrumbs in a pan with olive oil until crisp and golden. Season crumbs with a little salt and set aside. [Do not skip this step - this topping made the risotto!]



For the scallops/veggies:

Get a nonstick pan hot, then drizzle with olive oil. Cook asparagus and leeks - in batches if need be - in a single layer. Season with S&P and cook until colored on all sides. Remove to a bowl, sprinkle with half your marjoram and a squeeze of lemon juice.



Get the same pan nice and hot. Score the scallops half-way through in a criss-cross fashion on one side, and season with S&P and 5 spice. Add olive oil to the pan, add the scallops. Fry for a couple minutes until they are golden, flip, and add the rest of the herbs. Cook one more minute. Remove pan from the heat, add 2 "good knobs" of butter and the juice of 1/2 lemon, shake pan. Serve.


Serve risotto with a dollop of mascarpone and sprinkle over the toasted almonds and breadcrumbs.



Usually I'm a huge scallop fan, but these were just ok. The veggies were limp and without much flavor (could be because I was rushing at the end and didn't pluck enough of the marjoram). The risotto was the real star of the show here - roasted garlic, parmesan, and the crispy topping was really tasty. I'd definitely made that again - maybe with my MVP scallop recipe from Chrissy Teigen's Cravings book (and I'm not just saying that because Pepper Teigen (Chrissy's mom) commented on my Instagram!). Hopefully, I can make this risotto for Chrissy sometime since we're bound to be besties any day now!


Note: I'm shocked that my husband didn't send me a judge-y cleaning photo. The kitchen looked like a bomb went off and he soldiered through it all.

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