Monday, September 5, 2011

Grilled Sea Scallops with Jalapeno Pesto & Avocado Puree

I adapted this recipe from Bobby Flay's Grill It! cookbook. Bobby's recipe seemed more of an appetizer (the scallops were served atop a corn tortilla chip) than a main course, so I tweaked the avocado puree (I used 1 more avocado and 1 less lime) and subbed pecans for the pine nuts in the jalapeno pesto. In the end, it was all good. The jalapeno pesto gave the scallops a spicy kick, while the avocado puree added a limey, citrusy note. 


Ingredients:

Avocado Puree:
3 medium avocados, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. minced yellow or red onion
Juice of 1 large lime
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. vegetable oil


Jalapeno Pesto:
6 jalapeno peppers, lightly coated in olive oil & a pinch of salt & pepper, grilled until skin is blistered, about 5-10 min.
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp. pine nuts or chopped pecans
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
 1/8 tsp. black pepper


1. For the Avocado Puree: blend all avocado ingredients in a blender until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.


2. Grill jalapenos until the skins are blistered. Remove and cover with aluminum foil for 10 minutes. Scrape off skin with knife; seed and chop. 


3. Place jalapenos, cilantro, chopped nuts, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup of olive oil in a blender. Process until smooth. Add remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and pulse for several seconds until blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. 


4. Rinse scallops and pat dry. Toss lightly with olive oil, a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Grill about 2-3 minutes per side, or until browned. Remove promptly so that the scallops aren't overcooked. Serve with the 2 sauces. 


For the avocado puree: coarsely chop 3 avocados.

Lime, cilantro & garlic.

Blend together avocado, cilantro, lime juice, onion, salt, pepper,& veggie oil.


For the jalapeno pesto: 6 jalapenos, cilantro, garlic.

2 tbsp. chopped pecans.

Rinse and pat dry the sea scallops with paper towels.

Toss scallops lightly with olive oil.

Coat jalapenos lightly with olive oil & sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt & black pepper.

Roasted peppers (about 3 minutes per side on the grill). 

Cover the peppers with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes, to loosen the skins.

Scrape off the skins from the peppers; seed & coarsely chop.


Blend jalapeno peppers with 1/4 cup olive oil and remaining ingredients. 


Season scallops lightly with kosher salt & black pepper.

Scallops on the grill.

It's not pretty (I ran out of cilantro for the garnish), but here are the grilled scallops with avocado puree and jalapeno pest0. 

You can also plate the scallops on top of the pesto.

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