Ingredients
- For the Romesco sauce:
- 2 red peppers
- 1 head garlic
- 2 tomatoes
- 60ml olive oil
- 50g ground almonds
- Good pinch of smoked, sweet paprika
- 3 tbsp sweet sherry vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- 16-20 scallops, roe removed (optional)
- Big knob butter
- 2 heads endive
- 2 heads red endive
- Few sprigs herbs
Preheat an oven to 220 degrees/gas 6. Cut the red peppers into big chunks and discard the seeds and stems.
Slice the tomatoes in half and cut the garlic head in half, horizontally. Place in a roasting tin and drizzle with half the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven for 20 minutes until the peppers are just starting to burn. Remove from the oven and cover with foil and let the steam continue to cook them for another 20 minutes.
In a blender, whizz the peppers and tomatoes, scoop out the garlic cloves (which won’t be that soft) and any juices that are in the roasting tin.
Add the vinegar and the rest of the olive oil and whizz until it forms a thick puree. Stir in the ground almonds.
Taste and season. If it’s too thick, add more vinegar or oil. Will last a few days in the fridge and will make more than you need for this recipe.
Heat the butter until it is foaming. Meanwhile, scatter the endive leaves onto each plate.
Sear the scallops for a minute on each side and serve with some warm romesco (room temperature) on top. Food cooked and styled by Domini Kemp and Gillian Fallon
