Sea aster grows mainly in salt marshes or river estuaries and whereas samphire is a stalky kind of vegetable the edible parts of the sea aster plant are the leaves.
Because of where it grows it has a slightly salty flavour which compliments fish perfectly.
Having never seen it before let alone used it I was keen to give it a try and got myself a packet because I thought it'd be fantastic alternative to the sautéed spinach I was going to use.
If you cannot find sea aster yourselves then samphire will be just as good in the recipe I'm about to give but failing that you can use sautéed spinach with a good pinch of sea salt.
The scallops I used were without coral which is the orange coloured roe usually attached to the scallop, had they had coral I would have used that too in another sauce but for this dish I think they are best left off.
They were also very small so I used a good handful per portion. I'd have preferred to use much larger diver caught scallops but alas you don't really get these in supermarkets. If you can get nice big scallops I'd suggest using three per potion as a starter and five for a main or fish course, odd numbers always look better on a plate.
Scallops & Chorizo with sea aster and cauliflower purée
Serves two as a starter
Ingredients -
350g x Fresh scallops without roe
100g x Chorizo (peel off the thin clear casing and cut into cubes)
70g x Sea aster
1 x Baby cauliflower (remove any small leaves and chop into quarters)
Whole Milk
Unsalted butter
Salt
Black pepper
1. In a small saucepan put the quartered cauliflower and then add enough milk to just cover. Put this over a medium heat and bring it to the boil. Once boiling point is reached lower the heat to a very gentle simmer.
2. Take a frying/sautee pan and put it over a medium/high heat. Let the pan get hot then add in the cubed chorizo. Fry the cubes so that take on a nice colour and start to form a crunchy looking crust then remove from the to a clean bowl. ** Do not tip the chorizo out of the pan because you want to keep as much of the chorizo oil in the pan as possible.**
3. In the same pan over the same heat add a small knob of butter allowing it to melt and bubble then add in the scallops. Allow them to cook on one side for 45 seconds before turning over and cooking for another 45 seconds. This is all they need, do not be tempted to cook them any more as they will go rubbery (personally I like them cooked even less so that they are virtually raw in the middle). Notice how they take on all that lovely redness from the paprika in the chorizo oil. Remove these from the pan and add to the bowl with the chorizo and give it a mix up.
4. Again using the same pan but over a lower heat tip in the sea aster and let this wilt down while you prepare the cauliflower purée.
5. Remove the cauliflower from the milk and put into a blender along with a small knob of butter. Give the contents a whizz up adding a little of the cooking milk as you go until you have the consistency you require. Season the purée with salt and pepper to your taste and once your happy with it you can plate up. Pass the purée through a fine sieve if you want a smoother finish.
Spoon some of the cauliflower into the centre of a round plate and onto that scatter the wilted sea aster. Top this with the scallop and chorizo mixture and then drizzle round some of the remaining cooking oil from the frying pan.
Of course you should be as adventurous as you like with the presentation.
The flavours in this recipe just work so well together and it's really easy to do so give it a go. It's the perfect dish to have on a summers day and when washed down with a nice light white wine you really couldn't ask for more.
Toodlepip xx....
Wow! Just made this for lunch having bought aster and not knowing what to do... Googled and up this page came. Fantastic recipe - thanks.
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