Chard And Hazelnut Scallops

Serves two

I have to admit that I don’t particularly like seafood. My wife and many of my friends love it, however, and I love cooking it.

Chard, on the other hand, is one of my favourite foods, which together with toasted hazelnuts adds a wonderful flavour to this recipe.

Hazelnuts are very low in salt and rich in vitamin E and magnesium, making this a great healthy heart recipe, even more so with the omega-3 fats from the scallops.

60g/2.5oz unsalted butter
8 queen scallops
3 twists pepper
3 shallots, very finely chopped
3 tbspns fresh thyme leaves
2 tbspns whole hazelnuts
1 tbspn balsamic vinegar
8 large chard leaves, preferably one of the red stemmed varieties

First toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until just brown and crunchy. Set aside to cool, then chop coarsely.

Put the butter into a large frying pan and heat until golden – about three minutes – then set the butter aside.

Season the scallops with the pepper and half the thyme and put into the frying pan.

Cook the scallops for about two minutes each side, until opaque. Put in a warm oven.

Put the shallots, rest of the thyme and hazelnuts into the pan and stir on a medium heat for one minute.

At the same time plunge the chard leaves into boiling water for 30 seconds, then place in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop them cooking any more.

Put the colander back on a saucepan with half an inch of boiling water in the bottom and steam gently to keep hot.

Take the pan off the heat, add the reserved butter and vinegar.

Arrange the chard between two dishes and top with the scallops then the shallots, thyme, juices from the pan and hazelnuts.