Coquilles Saint-Jacques
A classic French dish featuring scallops baked in a creamy sauce with mushrooms and herbs, served in scallop shells.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter (2 tablespoons)
- diced shallots (0.5 cup)
- white button mushrooms (0.5 pound)
- salt (0 )
- black pepper (0 )
- white wine (1 cup)
- sea scallops (1 pound)
- heavy whipping cream (0.5 cup)
- egg yolk (1 )
- minced fresh tarragon (2 teaspoons)
- lemon zest (1 teaspoon)
- cayenne pepper (1 pinch)
- oven-safe scallop shells (4 )
- shredded Gruyere cheese (0.25 cup)
- paprika (1 pinch)
- fresh tarragon leaves (8 )
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add shallots and sauté until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, salt, and black pepper; increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Pour wine into the pan and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan; bring to a simmer.
- Gently place scallops into wine and poach in the mushroom mixture until barely firm, about 2 minutes per side; transfer scallops to a bowl. Strain mushroom mixture into another bowl, reserving mushrooms and cooking liquid separately.
- Return strained liquid to skillet, pour in any accumulated juices from scallops, and stir in cream. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, until cream sauce is reduced by about half, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let mixture cool for 1 minute.
- Quickly whisk egg yolk into cream sauce until combined. Stir in 2 teaspoons tarragon, lemon zest, and cayenne pepper.
- Divide mushroom mixture into scallop shells, spreading it out to cover the bottoms of the shells; place about 3 scallops onto each portion. Spoon cream sauce over scallops to coat and let sauce drizzle down into mushrooms. Sprinkle lightly with Gruyère cheese and paprika.
- Preheat the oven's broiler. Slightly crinkle a large sheet of aluminum foil and place it onto a baking sheet. Place filled shells onto the foil and press lightly to help them stay level.
- Broil in the preheated oven until bubbling and the cheese is lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Transfer to serving plates lined with napkins to prevent shells from tipping; garnish each portion with 2 crossed tarragon leaves.
Nutrition
(*Nutrition data is approximate and may vary depending on the brand and type of ingredients used.)
- kcal: 374
- fat: 22 g
- sats: 12 g
- carbs: 8 g
- fibre: 1 g
- protein: 26 g
- salt: 0.319 g