Scallops au gratin, a delicious and refined appetizer

Baked scallops au gratin are a refined and delicious fish appetizer, perfect to bring to the table to make a great impression.

Quick, good , beautiful to look at: these are scallops au gratin, a dish that when brought to the table will cheer up all your guests and make you look great! Not many people know how to prepare this delicious appetizer, but let us reveal a secret to you : the preparation is actually very simple and if you follow all the steps you will create a wonderful dish, making everyone envious. Are you ready? So follow us to the stove , let's get started: here's the recipe for scallops au gratin!

• How to clean scallops
• How to cook scallops au gratin
• How to use frozen scallops
• Variants
• Conservation

How to clean scallops before cooking them

Even before delving into the simple and quick preparation of this fish appetizer, it is good to understand once and for all how to carefully clean a scallop. There is no need to tell you, we know, that it is a good idea to buy good quality seafood, fresh and possibly not farmed and which comes from the Mediterranean waters. Once purchased you can move on to the preparation, which will be very different from mussels and clams , which instead must be purged in water and salt .

First, open them with a special knife with a fine blade, or have your trusted fishmonger open them. At this point, extract the mollusc from the shell and remove the light brown fringe that is usually present on these seafood.

At this point wash them under running water and dry them carefully with absorbent paper and keep them aside. Wash half of the shell carefully under water, dry it and then place the mollusc back inside. Now you are ready to go cooking!

Here is a short video with all the steps to make the dish. We added lemon zest to make the flavor fresher and enhance the taste of the shellfish.

If you liked the scallops au gratin, also try our pan-fried scallops , another dish that you will love !

How to cook frozen scallops

Of course, the secret to preparing this dish is certainly to equip yourself with fresh and quality raw materials, starting with the protagonists. It is also true that you don't always have the possibility, and therefore you can also prepare frozen scallops au gratin, defrosting them with the right amount of notice.

The only precaution, therefore, is to remember to take them out for the time needed: the ideal is to defrost them 5 hours before preparation, but if you are away from home just put them in the fridge the night before. Then proceed with creating the filling and cooking: happy preparation !

Variants

Once made and cooked, the gratin shells will (almost certainly) become a must have in your kitchen (in important moments, such as for Christmas appetizers , but also during any dinner with friends). To make this preparation always different and special, we recommend experimenting with gratinating the scallops.

You can replace the lemon with chopped pistachios , or add some chopped dried tomatoes or, again, an ever-changing selection of aromatic herbs .

Furthermore, you can also prepare excellent scallops in white wine or brandy . To make it, combine the wine (preferably dry) with the breadcrumbs, taking care that it is not too liquid . Do the same with the brandy but, be careful, use it sparingly as it is very strong and could overpower the taste of the seafood.

Conservation

Clearly, the scallops will be at their best if eaten freshly made , but if you have any leftovers you can store them in the fridge for a day in a container. Alternatively, freeze them raw.

Read also

Fish appetizers: 15 mouth-watering recipes!