Seared Spanish Sea Scallops with Saffron

This is a wonderful sea scallop recipe from Galicia, in northern Spain. Combining scallops with cured meat is a widespread tradition everywhere -- bacon is a common accompaniment -- but here I use Spanish Serrano ham; use any high quality dry-cure ham, such as prosciutto. The scallops are seared hard on one side, then simmered with sweet onions, saffron, a little ham, sherry and parsley -- it's a great dish served simply with crusty bread and a green salad. Count on 5 scallops per person for a main course; this recipe serve 4 that way. You can also drop the scallops to 3 per person and serve this as an appetizer.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 20 sea scallops
• Kosher salt
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped finely
• 4 T. Serrano ham, cut into pieces the same size as the onion
• 4 T. finely chopped parsley
• A pinch of saffron
• 1/3 cup dry sherry or white wine
• Juice of a lemon

Preparation:

Pat the scallops dry and salt each side with the kosher salt. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Add the olive oil to a large frying pan and heat over high heat until it's near the smoking point. Lower the heat to medium-high.

Pat the scallops dry one more time and lay down on the hot oil to sear. Do not move them for at least 2 minutes. Shake the pan a bit to see if they release themselves. Once they do, lift out and put on a plate, seared side facing up.

Once the scallops are all seared on one side, add the onions and ham and saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring often to pick up any stuck-on bits from the pan.

Crumble the saffron over the pan, then add the parsley and sherry and stir well to combine. Return the scallops to the pan, seared side up. Make sure the scallops are resting on the pan, not on onions.

Let this boil down vigorously until the sherry is almost gone, then turn off the heat and remove the scallops to the plate as you did before.

To assemble the dish, spoon out some of the onion-ham mixture on a plate, drizzle a little lemon juice on it and then top with the scallops.

This dish is best with crusty bread and a Spanish or California Albarino wine. A Potuguese Verdelho would be excellent, as would a white Cotes du Rhone or dry Riesling.