Feast fit for a Mother: Scallops, Gnudi & Crostata di Marmaletta
For this year's Mother's Day feast we headed to the Yandina markets for produce.
Held every Saturday at Wonga Park, North St, Yandina from 7am – high noon, these markets sell fresh fruit, vege, meats, cheeses and assorted produce as well as plants and general bric-a-brac.
So last week we recommended investing in the latest Gourmet Traveller (100s of delicious recipes and stories and juicy facts) for $8.75, well we can now even more STRONGLY recommend the investment after road-testing a couple of the recipes – the Gnudi (Italian for nude), p177. and the Crostata (Italian for Tart), p.47.
Entree
Scallops on pureed cauliflower cream topped with fresh tomato puree & toasted pinenuts
Main
Gnudi (The ‘nude’ ravioli – ravioli without the pasta), served in a purple basil and sage butter sauce
Roast beetroot & orange salad
Parmesan roasted fennel
Dessert
Crostata di marmellata aka Rhubarb Jam Tart aka a whole lot of deliciousness…
A couple of bunches of fresh rhubarb and homemade shortcrust pastry, both enhanced with fresh vanilla bean(though these set you back about $5 a bean, vanilla essence is usually around $3 for a bottle and pales in comparison. Vanilla beans can be sourced these days from most supermarkets in the spice section) Served with vanilla icecream and whipped cream for a deliciously sweet, tangy and fittingly decadent finish to the meal.
Scallops on pureed cauliflower cream topped with fresh tomato
puree & toasted pinenuts
(Adapted from 'From the Boathouse' by Michael Klausen)
serves 4
1/2 cauliflower head
1 tablespoon white vinegar
200ml cream
salt & white pepper
16 sea scallops, shells washed and set aside
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for cooking
tomato
pine nuts
lime
Remove all the florets from cauliflower and place in a pot with cold water and vinegar. Bring to the boil, remove from heat and strain.
Put back in the pot, cover with cream and cook until very soft. When cauliflower is cooked, strain the blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Clean the scallops by removing the white slimy nerve on the side.
Heat a frying pan until very hot and brush with vegetable oil. Pan-fry scallops on each side for 30 seconds. Remove from pan and drain on absorbent paper.
Place a tablespoon of cauliflower puree on each scallop shell, then place the scallop on top.
Top with a little tomato puree, sprinkle with pine nuts, then squeeze over a little lime juice.
The roasted fennel which may have upstaged the gnudi had it not been for it being served with lashings of sage/basil butter sauce
With a full bellies and full red wine glasses, we embarked on a post-dinner tournament of Bananagram.
