Masterclass with Brett McGregor: Seasonal treat

The scallop season has arrived and I was excited by the chance to travel north to the Whitianga Scallop Festival.

I had never been up there before and was hoping for a beautiful day spent sampling delicacies from the Coromandel, and I wasn't disappointed.

The only problem I had was that I had to come up with two scallop recipes and I was a bit worried the locals would have seen it all before.

After all, how do you create a new taste sensation for people when your key ingredient is something that is so readily available during its season they can eat it as often as they like.

I pondered this problem during the three weeks leading up to the festival and eventually decided one of the recipes would include coconut milk, pumpkin and prosciutto.

I like the salty taste of the prosciutto against the velvety texture of the sauce and when delivered with a fresh beautiful scallop, I decided it was a match made in heaven, or maybe in Whitianga.

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Scallops with pumpkin and prosciutto

Serves 2-24 (a meal or as canapes)

1 Tbsp olive oil

100g prosciutto cut lengthways

24 scallops - roe removed

Extra-virgin olive oil for garnish

Micro-herbs to garnish

Pumpkin and coconut sauce:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, sliced and diced

1 clove of garlic, sliced

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

200g butternut pumpkin, diced

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup coconut cream

1 cup fish stock

1 Tbsp fish sauce

Salt and black pepper to taste

To make the sauce, place a medium saucepan over a low heat.

Add shallots, ginger and garlic and then saute for about five minutes or until translucent.

Add the turmeric and fenugreek and continue to cook for a further five minutes. Add the pumpkin, coconut milk and cream and the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.

Add fish sauce, blend until smooth and pass through a sieve to be sure.

Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until needed.

Add the oil to the pan and cook the prosciutto in batches until crisp. Drain and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the same frying pan, add scallops and cook over a high heat until browned on both sides and almost cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

Place in your preferred style and serve.

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- © Fairfax NZ News