Scallops happen to be one of my very favorite seafoods. But in the years I was living in Italy, I didn’t eat them very much. If fact, if memory serves, I don’t recall seeing them on menus or in the markets in Rome, where I lived.* Seafood is ubiquitous in Rome, and indeed the variety of local fish, mollusks and crustaceans is breathtaking. But scallops were MIA, at least in the everyday trattorie and pizzerie I used to frequent. They don’t figure largely in traditional Roman cuisine, even though a species of scallop, the pecten jacobaeus, is native to the Mediterranean.

But there is, in fact, at least one place in Italy where scallops reign supreme: Venice, where they prepare them in this simple but delicious manner, dredged in breadcrumbs, then quickly sautéed in olive oil with a parsley and garlic mince, and finally brightened with a squeeze of lemon.

Although capesante alla veneziana (Venetian Style Scallops) are perhaps most closely associated with holidays like Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, I think this quickly prepared yet elegant dish is also a lovely way to start a Valentine’s Day dinner. Scallops are quite expensive, yes, but only two or three per person makes for a lovely, lightly antipasto. Or double the portion for use as a second course.

And while I can’t vouch for the supposed aphrodisiacal properties of scallops, I can guarantee that this delicious dish is sure to please your Valentine.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as antipasto or 1 as a second course

4-6 sea scallops (shucked and cleaned if need be, see Notes)
fine breadcrumbs, q.b.
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced
A few sprigs of parsley, trimmed of their steams and finely minced
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste (see Notes)

Directions

Take the garlic and half the parsley and finely mince them together. ( A mezzaluna chopped is the ideal tool for the job but if you don’t have one, a knife or mini-chopper will do fine.)

In a skillet large enough to hold the scallops comfortably in a single layer, sauté the garlic and parsley mince over a very gentle flame just until they begin to give off their aroma.

Dredge the scallops in the breadcrumbs and add the scallops to the skillet. Raise the heat slightly and sauté them gently until lightly browned top and bottom, perhaps 2-3 minutes a side, depending on their size.

Transfer the scallops to individual serving dishes.

Add the lemon juice to the pan juices in the skillet, stir and let simmer for a minute, then nap the scallops with the resulting sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining parley.

Serve immediately.

Capesante alla veneziana (Venetian Style Scallops)

Notes

In Italy, scallops are sold still in their shells just like clams and oysters. Traditionally you clean the shells and use them as your serving dish. Here in the US (and perhaps elsewhere?) scallops are rarely sold in their shells. Apparently, the shells don’t stay shut outside of the water for very long, so to avoid spoilage (and save on storage costs) they are shelled at sea. This may be convenient for the consumer as well, but unfortunately, it also means that scallops are easily faked by unscrupulous sellers. Avoid, if you can, “wet” scallops, which have been stored in water, to which chemical preservatives are sometimes added. This gives them a less pure flavor and a tougher texture. Plus, their liquid tends to ooze when cooked, making more difficult to brown.

If you want to approximate the classic presentation of capesante alla veneziana, you can use those shell shaped dishes for Coquilles Saint Jacques. But of course it’s not required. I own them myself, but for today’s post I preferred to use the beautiful, nearly 100 year old heirloom I inherited from Angelina pictured above.

If you do buy your scallops still in their shells, you’ll need to shuck the shells and remove the scallops by running the blade along the inside of the shells. For this recipe, you should remove the coral as well. (You can discard it or eat it separately, as it’s quite tasty in its own right.) Scrape the insides of the shell clean and wash it well for serving.

Italian recipes for capesante alla veneziana simply call for “capesante”, or scallops, obviously meaning the Mediterranean scallop, or pecten jacobaeus mentioned at the top. Here in the US, we have a choice of sometimes enormous sea scallops, fished in deep ocean waters, or the tiny bay scallops, fished close to shore. This presents something of a dilemma for making Italian dishes, since while bay scallops are much smaller than Mediterranean ones, our sea scallops can be much bigger. Truth be told, either can work in this dish, but sea scallops will give the better results provided they’re not too terribly large. If you do opt for bay scallops, skip the breadcrumbs (see below) and, of course, reduce the cooking times for perhaps 2-3 minutes total.

This dish works fine with frozen scallops, which are a bit more economical than fresh. Just make sure to defrost them completely and pat them dry before using. Following advice from fellow blogger David of Cocoa & Lavender (see comments to this post) you can dry them out in the fridge with paper towels .

Cooking Tips

Capesante alla veneziana is a super quick and simple dish, but truthfully it can be tricky to get right. Most importantly, make sure to use gentle heat throughout. You need to do this since minced garlic can burn so easily. And even if it doesn’t actually burn, minced garlic tends to turn quite bitter when browned. The scallops on the other hand are supposed to brown, even if only lightly. (This isn’t a dish where you’re aiming to sear the scallops.)

So you’ll need to regulate the temperature very carefully. It should be gentle enough to minimize the risk of burning or over-browning the garlic, but just high enough to ensure some browning of the breadcrumb crust on the scallops. (Full disclosure: This took me a couple of tries to get this right.)

Also, don’t overcook the scallops. If you do, they’ll lose their lovely sweetness and turn tough and rubbery. Cook them only for a couple of minutes on each side as indicated in the recipe. Remove them from the heat as soon as they have cooked through, even if they haven’t browned terribly much. If you have any doubts, press them with your finger. The scallops should feel “springy” to the touch.

Treating the other ingredients

Be discrete with the garlic. This is one of the relatively few Italian dishes where you sauté minced garlic. Most Italian dishes garlic cloves are used whole (or slightly crushed) and discarded after just a few minutes’ sauté. Mincing, on the other hand, brings out their flavor in a very aggressive way. Plus, the garlic stays in the dish. So use less than you might think, as indicated above just one small clove should do for 4-6 scallops.

The breadcrumbs should be very fine so they adhere well to the scallops. Coarse breadcrumbs like panko and even some of the coarser regular commercial breadcrumbs will tend to fall off while cooking since the recipe doesn’t employ egg or flour to help them adhere. If you have any doubts, you can give them a whiz in the food processor or, even better, grind them with a mortar and pestle. (That said, even with fine breadcrumbs some will inevitably fall off. Don’t fret too much about it.)

Some recipes for capesante alla veneziana don’t call for breadcrumbs at all, so that’s an option if you prefer. But breadcrumbs do lend a nice bit of crunch, a pleasant contrast to the velvety texture of the scallops. And they also help resolve the browning dilemma mentioned above.

You will notice I’ve called for lemon juice “to taste”. Italian recipes will generally call for the juice of a full half lemon for this number of scallops. I find that results in a sauce that far too tart for my taste. But tastes vary. If you like assertive acidity, then go with the original recipe. And of course, the type of lemon will influence how much you use. If you’re using relatively sweet lemons like a Meyer, then you may want to use a bit more than otherwise.

Making ahead

In a word, don’t. Capesante alla veneziana are best when served warm, and they lose their charm when reheated. Given how quick the dish is to prepare, there’s really do need to make them ahead.

Scallops as an aphrodisiac

The notion that scallops have aphrodisiacal properties is an ancient one. In fact, you could say that scallops are the original aphrodisiac. According to Greek myth, the goddess of love Aphrodite—perhaps better known to us by her Roman name, Venus— was born from the sea foam and carried to shore on a scallop shell. Perhaps the most famous depiction of this myth is this iconic painting by Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli:

This association with sensuality extends to other bivalves like oysters, reinforced by their shape that, to some, is reminiscent of the vulva and the soft, velvety texture of their meat. And moreover, scallops and other bivalves are high in zinc, which is said to raise levels of both testosterone and estrogen. So maybe there’s a scientific basis for this notion after all? I guess there’s one way to put it to the test…

FOOTNOTE

* That may have just been me. Or times may have changed since then. A quick Google search for “capesante a Roma” reveals that there are a number of restaurants in town—mostly very upscale—that serve them.

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