Fish & Seafood Meat & Game Sides & Snacks

Juicy Scallops and Spicy Chorizo

Name: Juicy Scallops and Spicy Chorizo
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 400 g Scallops; 110 g Chorizo (cut into coins); 4 Garlic Cloves (peeled and crushed); 1 Lemon (zest and juice); Fresh Parsley; Crusty Bread (to serve)

Pan-fried scallops cooked in smoky chorizo oil with garlic and lemon. A quick, elegant seafood dish ready in ten minutes.

5 (3 reviews)

• By Ricky Robinson • Updated August 19, 2022

Scallops and chorizo work well together because they cook at roughly the same speed and the chorizo oil gives the scallops plenty of flavour. The smokiness from the chorizo balances nicely with the sweetness of good scallops.

The trick is cooking the chorizo first to get the oil out. You put the chorizo coins in a hot, dry pan and let them cook for three or four minutes until they're properly crisp. This releases all that lovely red oil that's full of paprika and garlic flavours. Once the chorizo is done, you lift it out and keep it to one side.

The scallops only need about a minute on each side to cook through—any longer and they get tough and rubbery.

The scallops go straight into that same pan with all the chorizo oil still there. They only need about a minute on each side to cook through. Any longer and they get tough and rubbery, which is a waste of good scallops. While they're cooking, the oil from the chorizo gets into the scallops and gives them a lovely colour and taste.

Juicy Scallops and Spicy Chorizo recipe image

Once the scallops are nearly done, you add the crushed garlic and put the chorizo back in for the last minute or so. The garlic just needs time to warm through and release its smell. Then everything gets a good squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of the zest. The lemon cuts through the richness of the chorizo oil and brightens up the whole dish.

Fresh parsley goes on at the end for a bit of colour and freshness. The whole thing takes about ten minutes from start to finish, which makes it handy for when you want something that feels a bit special but doesn't take all evening to make.

Serve it with some good crusty bread to mop up any oil that's left in the pan. That's often the best bit.