Salad of Grilled Scallops

Published on January 1 2010.

Ingredients

• 50g hazelnuts
• 120g blue cheese, such as Roquefort, St Agur or Rochecave
• 3–4 heads witloaf
• a little peanut or grapeseed oil
• 500–600g scallops, with roe attached
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Vinaigrette
• 80ml grapeseed or peanut oil
• 80ml hazelnut oil
• 20–30ml cider vinegar
• sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Toast the hazelnuts on a baking tray in a 180°C oven for 5 minutes, or until the skins split. Transfer the nuts to a clean tea towel and rub off the skins while they are still hot. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely and toast them again until lightly coloured. Set aside.
• Break the cheese into pieces about half the size of a hazelnut and put aside. Discard the outer leaves of the witloof and, as Australian witloof tends to be very large, I also usually trim off the base. Allow about 5–6 leaves per serve.
• Make the vinaigrette by whisking together the oils and vinegar, salt and pepper?–?it should not be too acidic.
• Heat a frying pan until it is very hot, add a smear of oil and seal the scallops very quickly on both sides, seasoning with salt and pepper?–?the scallops should gain some colour but should still be almost raw in the centre. Transfer to a bowl, moisten with some of the vinaigrette and toss quickly.
• Assemble the witloof, scallops and cheese on individual plates, dress each salad with a little more vinaigrette and scatter with toasted hazelnuts.