Scallops with prosciutto and basil


 
Brad Olson

Brad Olson

TVWBB Diamond Member
I was recently in the Milwaukee area so I stopped at Empire Fish Co. and picked up a pound of scallops. More would've been nice but the wallet can give only so much.


I've seen several versions of "scallops plus pork" recipes and I think this one turned out to be kind of an amalgam. I wrapped each scallop with basil and then prosciutto, skewered them, and then seasoned them with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.


Even though they took only a short time to grill the basil and prosciutto crisped a bit. A pair of wood skewers would've worked better than the flat metal ones as I wound up having to spin some of the scallops 180 degrees even after flipping the them.


We reheated and browned some leftover shrimp fried rice for the side dish. The scallops had a nice natural sweetness and the prosciutto and basil added their own good flavors.


I wish I could eat scallops a little - no, a lot - more often!
 
Looks awesome! And i love the basil toutch. Never had scallops,but hey. If they taste like i think...bcn and basil cant make it worse. one thing to add when skewer stuff....Is to single out(by cooking time) proteins/veg on different sticks. That way everything gets done to perfection. Not like i wouldend down that plate in a heart beat. looks stellar dude! And that rice?! Tell us more!?
 
Nothing special about the rice, it was from the local Chinese carry-out restaurant. I added a few sliced fresh mushrooms to it and reheated it in olive oil and butter so that it would get a little brown and some crust on the bottom, but the real work was already done.

The nice thing about prosciutto is that it's so thin and fatty that it cooks (all it really needs to do is get warm) in no time at all, which makes it perfect for seafood. If I use bacon for something like shrimp I always microwave it a little bit first.

One thing I've learned about working with prosciutto it's always easier to roll it up with something inside than it is to try to wrap it around!
 
Fantastic. I love prosciutto on scallops. Much more so than bacon - the bacon can overwhelm the awesome scallop flavor. But the proscuitto gives you that salty porky goodness without being too "in your face".
 
Brad, isn't Empire AMAZING??!!
I used to work near Mayfair Mall and would stop once a week on my drive home up Hwy100 to Franklin manyMANY years ago.
this photo is AWESOME!!

ScallopsBasilProsciutto20130129_3_zps08eb4fa0.jpg
 
Did the scallops come with the foot removed from it? I know that if I go to a fish monger I always try to make sure that they take off the feet before they sell them to me because after 5 or 6 scallops that can add up to the weight of a whole 'nother scallop I'm not getting. They cook up almost inedibly chewy too, so best to make sure that if you do buy scallops with the feet on them that ya peel them off. Makes sure that the final product is super melty and tender!
 
Thanks, everybody! It's probably a good thing that Empire's 90+ minutes from my house or I could develop a serious seafood habit...but there are a couple of places in Madison that're just as dangerous!;)

RC, I think they had all been cleaned for one, and that one had just a little nub that had to be removed. That's a good point about the unwanted part adding up!
 
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