Scallops and mashed potatoes

This is a simple, light dinner and a good way of sneaking some vegetables into your daily diet.

Scallops and mashed potatoes

For two people:

200g potatoes

a knob of butter and a dribble of milk

100g lardons

one leek, sliced into thin rounds

one chopped onion

100g scallops (fresh or frozen)

Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks, and boil them until they are tender enough to mash. In the meantime, fry the lardons, with the onions and the leeks over a medium heat, until the vegetables soften. The fat from the lardons should be enough to lubricate the pan, so you don't need to use oil. 

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water off them, add the butter and the dribble of milk and mash them. Add your vegetables and the lardons (keep the residual fat in the pan for cooking the scallops in a moment), with a little salt and pepper and mix them well.

In your frying pan again, fry the scallops for about 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second.

Switch your grill on. Put your cooked scallops into an individual, shallow dish and cover with the mashed potatoes. Pop these under the hot grill until the top crisps up, so about 3-4 minutes.

If you don’t have leeks, you could add some carrots or other vegetable to the potatoes. If you have some cheese lingering in the fridge you could also add that to the mash.