Shrimps and Scallops with Tomato & Feta | Ottolenghi

Shrimps and scallops with tomato and feta has the depth of flavor that very few seafood dishes can match. I found that out when I made garides saganaki, a Greek dish by Tessa Kiros. Meanwhile. the inspiration for this dish comes from Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem which uses prawns, scallops and clams. In this Covid season, I streamline the dish by leaving out clams, while using just shrimps and scallops which you can buy frozen. (On the other hand, I have no doubt clams and the clam juice will make it even better.) This makes the dish quite accessible and satisfy all my cravings for a bold-flavor seafood extravaganza!

This dish tops my list for everyday seafood dinner because it’s uncomplicated. All you need, besides shrimps and scallops, are: white wine, one can of plum tomatoes, garlic, lemon, herbs (whatever you have) and feta. I usually stock these items in my pantry and seafood in the freezer. More often than not, there is no need to step into the grocery store. Who’d have thought an elevated seafood dinner is only minutes away?

Ottolenghi also points out this dish works especially well in dinner-party situations — which have to wait. What he suggests is to cook everything in advance up to the stage when the shrimps and scallops are added. Then reheat the sauce and put everything together as the very last minute. Add some chile flakes to the sauce, if you want heat. Serve with rice, couscous, or bread.

Recently, I’m able to locate seafood suppliers from the sources and delivered to my door: salmon from Alaska and other white fish and shellfish from North Carolina. (I could put up links if you’re interested.) It’s game changing that a serving portion is flash-freezed and individually vacuum-sealed. Nothing gets wasted in the process — since seafood is expensive. In addition, there are other advantages. What you get are restaurant and first-quality produce made convenient for the home cooks. The seafood tastes much fresher than any I’ve bought from the local grocery stores. Nothing beats seafood fresh out of the water; but this comes close.

To me, there is a silver lining and, oddly uplifting, when the seafood supply chain has been altered in this pandemic. We skip the middlemen and deal directly with the fishermen and processors. Win-win for both the fishermen, consumers (FedEx, too) and lovers of seafood.

Print Recipe

Prawns, Scallops and Clams with Tomato & Feta

Ingredients

• 250ml (1 Cup) White Wine
• 1 kg (2 lb) Clams (cleaned) – I only used 500g
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 Garlic Cloves (thinly sliced)
• 600g (1¼ lb) (Fresh or Tinned) Ripe Tomatoes (Peeled and Chopped)
• 1 Teaspoon Caster Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Oregano (Chopped)
• 1 Lemon
• 16 Raw Tiger Prawns (Peeled and Deveined)
• 12 Large Scallops (Cleaned)
• 120g (4 oz) Feta Cheese (Broken into 2cm chunks)
• 3 Spring Onions (thinly sliced)
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Instructions

1

Bring the white wine to the boil in a medium saucepan and reduce until only a quarter of the quantity is left.

2

Add the clams, if using, to the saucepan and cover with a lid. Allow to cook over high heat for about 2 minutes (shaking the pan occasionally). Check that the clams have opened, before transferring to a fine sieve to drain, being sure to retain all of the cooking liquid (in a bowl or jug) for later.

3

Remove the clams from their shells, though you may wish to leave a few with shells on for presentation at the end.

4

Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F.

5

Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the garlic in the olive oil until just golden. Add the tomatoes, clam liquid, sugar, chopped oregano and a grinding of pepper and salt. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off three strips of lemon and add them to the sauce. Allow to simmer gently for about 20-25 minutes until the sauce thickens nicely. Taste for seasoning and be sure to discard the lemon peel.

6

Add the prawns and scallops and stir gently to coat them in the sauce. Allow to cook for just a couple of minutes. Fold in the clams and transfer everything to an ovenproof dish. Scatter with the feta cheese and spring onions (and any of the cooked clams in their shells) and place into the oven for about 5 minutes, until the top of the dish colours a little and the seafood is cooked.

7

Remove from the oven, squeeze some lemon juice, scallions over the top and drizzle with a little extra olive oil.

Notes

Adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi