This week on Neven's Irish Food Trails, our favourite Cavan Chef makes a delicious dish of seared scallops with black pudding.

Ingredients

Serves 6

  • 18 large sea scallops, well trimmed and roe removed
  • Olive oil, for cooking
  • 1 Black Pudding ring, cut into 12 pieces
  • 1 Apple, cut into thin sticks

For the cauliflower puree

  • 1 small cauliflower
  • 25g (1oz) butter
  • 1 tsp mild curry powder
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 100ml (3 1/2fl oz) cream
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. To make the cauliflower puree, trim the cauliflower into small florets, discarding the leaves and tough stalk. Melt the butter in a pan with a lid and stir in the curry powder.
  2. Add the florets and cook for 3 minutes until just beginning to soften, stirring regularly.
  3. Add milk and cream, cover and simmer for another 8 minutes or until the cauliflower is completely soft and the milk mixture is slightly reduced.
  4. Place in a food processor or use a hand blender and whizz to a smooth puree.
  5. Pass through a sieve into a bowl. Season to taste and either leave to cool completely and cover with clingfilm in the fridge until needed or if using immediately keep warm.
  6. To cook the scallops, heat a teaspoon of the oil in a non-stick frying pan.
  7. Quickly season the scallops with some salt, then quickly sear scallops for about 1 minute on each side until golden brown and nicely caramelised.
  8. They should still be slightly under-cooked in the middle. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan