Scallops and puff pastry with mushrooms and a Madeira sauce

recipe

Scallops and puff pastry with mushrooms and a Madeira sauce

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The look and the taste of this dish are quite unique. You can buy ready-made puff pastry if you want to, but the difference between this and home-made pastry is unbelievable - it's like chalk and cheese

Ingredients

450g (1lb) puff pastry
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/2 quantity Wild Mushroom Fricassee
8 large scallops, shelled, washed and prepared
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp chopped chives
Handful of tarragon leaves
2 tomatoes, skinned and finely diced
Madeira sauce:
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
100ml (3 1/2fl oz) Madeira wine
250ml (8fl oz) Fish stock

Serves: 4

Directions

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Preheat the oven to degrees C (degrees F/Gas . Roll out the pastry to a m (in) thickness, then cut it into four neat rectangles. Using a small sharp knife, cut a line inside each one of the rectangles of pastry about m (in) from the edge, looking rather like a picture frame, but taking care not to cut all the way through the pastry. Put the rectangles of pastry on a baking tray and brush the top edges with the egg yolk, making sure that you do not brush over the edges or the pastry will not rise evenly. Bake in the oven for - minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and, while the pastry is still hot, lift off the 'lids' from the bases. Pull off and discard the soft dough on the undersides of the lids, retaining the crisp brown tops and the intended bottoms. Set aside.
To make the sauce, soften the shallot in half of the Madeira in a medium pan over a low heat until the liquid has reduced, before adding the fish stock and reducing again, to a third of its original volume. Add the cream, simmer for minutes, then add the remaining Madeira. Season well with salt and pepper. Push the sauce through a fine sieve and keep warm.
To finish the dish, pat the scallops with kitchen paper to make sure that they are dry, then slice them in half horizontally. Turn them in the olive oil with a pinch of salt. Quickly sear the scallops on both sides in a very hot, dry frying pan. Pop the pastry cases in the oven for minute if you need to reheat them.
Assemble the finished pastry boxes by putting a spoonful of mushroom fricassee in the bottom of each one and filling it with scallops and some of the sauce. Sprinkle with the chives and tarragon, and put the lid on the top. Scatter the tomatoes around the outside of the little pastry box and serve immediately.
TIP: