Marcus Wareing’s grilled scallops, green chilli & coriander salsa

Photography - Paul Richardson

As part of a new and exciting feature, The Rakish Gent is pleased to share a series of exciting new recipes from acclaimed chef Marcus Wareing. Marcus is a Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur, TV personality and acclaimed cookbook author. He is perhaps best known as a judge on the hugely popular Masterchef: The Professionals. Here he share’s the recipe for his delicious and simple grilled scallops, green chilli & coriander salsa

grilled scallops, green chilli & coriander salsa

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus 6 hours straining

Cooking time: less than 5 minutes

120ml buttermilk

1 tbsp vegetable oil

12 medium or 6 large scallops, roe removed

1 ripe peach, halved and cut into 3mm-thick slices

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

coriander cress or small coriander leaves, to serve

FOR THE GREEN CHILLI AND CORIANDER SALSA

grated zest and juice of 1 lime

1 garlic clove, finely grated

1 small green chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp chopped coriander

1 tbsp chopped mint

1 tbsp chopped dill

6 large basil leaves

60ml olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Photography - Jonathan Gregson

Recipe from New Classics by Marcus Wareing (HarperCollins, £20)

Put the buttermilk in a sieve lined with a piece of muslin cloth and place the sieve over a bowl. Put the sieve and bowl in the fridge for 6 hours. Scrape  the strained buttermilk out of the muslin cloth, put it into a clean bowl and whisk it.

To make the salsa, blend all the ingredients together in a small food processor, or in a jug or bowl with a stick blender, until smooth. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Season the scallops. When the oil in the pan is almost smoking, place the scallops in the pan, one by one, in a clockwise configuration. As soon as you have put the last scallop in the pan, start turning the first scallop over, then continue one by one in the same clockwise direction. They’ll be done after about a minute or so on each side. Remove from the pan.

To serve, divide the salsa between 4 plates then arrange the scallops and peach slices on top. Add a dollop of the strained buttermilk and sprinkle over the coriander cress or coriander leaves.