Coquille St Jacques with tarragon butter

Inspired by the Tour de France's passage through Boulogne Sur Mer, renowned for its high-quality scallops, this is a brilliant recipe for cooking them in the best way possible: seared to perfection, then topped with herb butter and confit eschallots.

Credit: Kitti Gould

• makes

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 g butter, room-temperature, divided
• 3 eschallots, finely chopped
• Neutral oil, for drizzling
• 6 scallops, shell-on
• 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp finely chopped tarragon
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes
• A pinch black pepper

Instructions

1. Melt 120 g butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir through the eschallots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes, or until tender. Strain the confit eschallots, discard the butter and allow to cool.
   
2. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Once hot, remove the scallops from their shell (transfer the shells to a large serving plate) and sear for 15 seconds per side. Return the seared scallops to their shells.
   
3. Melt the remaining butter in a second small saucepan. Once melted, stir through the confit eschallots and remaining ingredients. Mix well to combine. Spoon the hot butter over the seared scallops and serve immediately.

Watch how to make this recipe on Episode 2 of Plat du Tour Season 6, streaming free on SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.