While scalloping is a ton of fun to do, you would be surprised how little meat you really get after cleaning them. You may catch a gallon or two of whole bay scallops when you shuck them you are looking at a pint at best. Me and the wife got a gallon of them on our scalloping trip to Port St. Joe this year, but that only equated to about half a pint of meat when cleaned. So to make these delicious morsels go further I am going to show you an easy but fancy-looking dish of Bay Scallop Scampi over Mushroom Risotto.
For this dish you have to start with the Mushroom Risotto first, you don’t want to leave the scallops cooked and sitting for long. Either they will get cold and greasy or overcook from residual heat before your risotto is done. Also don’t worry risotto is a lot easier than most people think as long as you pay attention and take it slow.
Mushroom Risotto Ingredients
- 4 Cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2/3rd pound of Sliced Cremini Mushrooms
- 1 Cup Arborio Rice
- 1/2 onion diced
- 3 Cloves worth of Minced Garlic
- 1/2 Cup of White Wine
- 3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 3oz Good Quality Butter
- Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper to Taste
Instructions for Mushroom Risotto
First thing’s first, for risotto I recommend doing all your prep work before you even turn on your stove. So take all your mushrooms and slice them up, dice the 1/2 onion, mince the garlic, and grate the cheese. After that is all done, set your chicken stock in a pot and leave it on medium till it simmers. Then take a pan and start sautéing the mushrooms in a bit of olive oil and a bit of salt. You want to pull out the moisture from the mushrooms and brown them up well. After the mushrooms are done take them off the heat and put them aside.
Next, get your diced onion and add them into a pan with olive oil and sauté until translucent. You don’t want your heat too high for this as you’re not trying to add too much color to the onions. Once the onions are nice and done, add in your garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. You don’t want to overcook the garlic, if too brown it’ll go bitter.
Once the garlic is done add your cooked mushrooms and Arborio rice to the pan. Stir to combine everything and get the rice nicely coated in olive oil. Keep stirring for a minute or two to very lightly cook the rice, you don’t want to brown it though.
Once that minute passes add in your white wine for acidity and to deglaze. You want a nice white wine, something you would like to drink.
Now start ladling in your warm chicken stock into the pan, just enough to cover most of the rice. Keep your temp on medium, and keep stirring. As the stock gets absorbed and cooks down add more stock as you go, try to keep the rice just covered.
Once you add all the chicken stock to the pan and the rice has absorbed it all, turn off the heat and add in the grated parmesan cheese and butter. After use salt and pepper to taste. Now that the risotto is done put it aside so we can cook our bay scallop scampi.
Bay scallops being quite small, take almost no time at all to cook compared to larger sea scallops. Additionally, you want them just barely cooked, that way they stay super tender and delectable. You don’t want to waste all the effort of collecting them by overcooking them and making rubber bullets.
Bay Scallop Scampi – Ingredients
- 1/2 pint of Fresh Cleaned Bay Scallops
- 4 oz Good Quality Butter
- 2 Cloves worth of Minced Garlic
- 1/2 Lemon & 1/2 tsp of zest
- Flat Leaf Parsley
- Salt to Taste
Instructions for Bay Scallop Scampi
First, you want to make sure the bay scallops are nice and clean. Make sure all the guts are taken off the abductor muscles, you don’t have to worry about the little side muscles with bay scallops though. While on sea scallops they get tough, with how small bay scallops are, the side muscle is not a concern. Make sure they are dry as well, using paper towels to pat them dry.
First, put a knob of quality butter into the pan, melting it down on medium heat. Add in the lemon zest now.
Once the butter starts bubbling, add your garlic to the pan along with your scallops. While a sear would be nice, messing with trying to sear all these little scallops might end you up with overcooked scallops. Stir it all till the scallops are almost done then cut the heat. Salt it to taste.
Finally, add in your chopped fresh flat leaf parsley and lemon juice. This is done and should be served immediately.
Get your serving bowl, put down a layer of the rich mushroom risotto, and then top with a portion of the bay scallop scampi. Make sure to spoon a bit of the butter sauce from the scampi over the scallops and risotto. This is ready to serve, great accompanied with some crusty bread and a nice glass of white wine.
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