Recipes
Vegan Mushrooms Scallops
by Iona Berry
4min read
Most of us grew up with meat as the hero of our meals and with vegetables taking up the mere corners of our plates. It can be hard to know where to start if you're trying to flip the script and cook plant based meals that don’t feel like just eating a plate full of sides. Building an exciting, yet satisfying meal around vegetables - whether that’s a bunch of carrots or a humble head of cauliflower - can sometimes feel like a little daunting and underwhelming task.
Our new series, Veg and Two Veg is here to tackle just that and to explore all of the ways in which every day vegetables can be the star of the table without sacrificing flavour or heartiness. Whether you’re cooking for one or cooking for a bunch, these recipes will fill your table with vibrant, deeply flavoured and satisfying dishes that you’ll be making on repeat.
This recipe for vegan mushroom scallops has been a big undertaking but makes for an impressive, deeply flavoured and delicious dish.
Marinating the mushrooms in an infused broth for 4 hours means they have time to take on the extra flavour from the miso and seaweed. It also lets the mushroom soak up the extra liquid and makes the texture a lot more realistic to actual scallops. Any excess marinade you have makes an excellent base for miso noodle soup, so no need to waste anything. I love to serve these mushroom scallops with a rich and creamy white wine sauce as it adds to the luxuriousness of the dish but they are also lovely stirred through spaghetti with plenty of olive oil and lemon juice. I have also made them with a pea puree and vegan bacon for a perfect dinner party starter dish which went down excellently. Basically it seems like a big ask to plan something 4 hours ahead, but trust me it’s worth it for the show stopping result!
Prep Time
10 mins (+ marinating)
Cook Time
15 mins
Serves
4
Ingredients
Scallops
380g king oyster mushrooms (try and find the biggest ones you can!)
2 tbsp white miso paste
2 tsp nori powder (if you find nori sheets you can blend this down in a food processor)
1 vegetable stock cube
700ml water
1 lemon, juiced
35g butter
2 tbsp (30ml) olive oil
Sauce
2 tbsp (30ml) olive oil
4 small shallots, finely chopped (100g)
¼ tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced into a paste
187ml dry white wine
150ml vegan double cream
1 tsp white miso paste
7g fresh parsley, finely chopped
Lemon juice, to taste
Pinch of cracked black pepper
Method
STEP 1
Start by preparing the mushrooms. Cut the tops of the mushrooms off and then slice them into evenly sized scallop pieces (roughly 1 inches). Then, using a small knife, score the pieces on both sides (be gentle at this point as you don’t want to cut too deep). This is so that they absorb the marinade.
STEP 2
Add the miso paste, stock cube, seaweed powder and water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then, add the lemon juice and pour the marinade over the mushroom ‘scallops’. Try to use a shallow dish so that the marinade covers the mushrooms. Leave for 4 hours to infuse.
STEP 3
After 4 hours, remove the scallops from the liquid and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.
STEP 4
To make the sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes until golden and caramelised.
STEP 5
Add the garlic and white wine to the pan and bring them to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the wine has nearly completely evaporated (roughly 10 minutes).
STEP 6
Whilst the wine is cooking off you can fry the ‘scallops’. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan until the butter has melted. Add the ‘scallops’ and cook for 6-8 minutes on each side, making sure that they get a deep golden colour. I recommend pressing them down slightly whilst cooking so that the scoring shows through.
STEP 7
To finish the sauce, add in the plant-based cream and whisk in the miso paste into the shallot pan. Season with the lemon juice and cracked black pepper. Stir through the chopped parsley. Plate the sauce with the scallops on top and plenty of sourdough bread on the side for mopping up any leftover sauce.
By Iona Berry
Iona is our Development Chef, aka our go-to girl for developing, testing and tasting delicious dishes for you to all enjoy at home. When she’s not in the kitchen, you’ll find her either running or cycling, or trying out food markets and new restaurants around London. Continuous market research it would seem.
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