Venetian baked scallops: the white meat and the coral in the shell, under a crust of breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and lemon. Ready in 35 minutes.
Introduction
Baked scallops are the festive starter of Venetian cooking: in Venice they are never missing from the table on Christmas Eve, and the osterie of the lagoon serve them all year round. They cook in their own shell: the white meat and the orange coral stay in the shell, are covered with a thin layer of breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and lemon zest moistened with oil, and spend a few minutes in a very hot oven. The result is a mouthful with two textures, the golden, crisp crust on top and the tender, sweet shellfish underneath.
The dish is simple, and for exactly that reason it has a few rules you cannot get wrong. The first is freshness: scallops are bought closed, or just opened by the fishmonger, and cooked the same day. The second is cooking time: the scallop is ready when the white meat loses its translucency, and one minute too many makes it rubbery. The third is restraint with the topping: the crust should accompany the shellfish, not bury it, and the garlic goes in with a light hand.
In the glass we pour the Franciacorta D.O.C.G. Satèn by Muratori, a classic-method sparkling wine made from Chardonnay alone, with a fine, creamy bubble that cleans the oil of the crust and leaves room for the sweetness of the scallop.
The History of Venetian Scallops
The Adriatic scallop is *Pecten jacobaeus*, the fan-shaped shell that pilgrims brought back from Santiago de Compostela in the Middle Ages, hung from their cloak or hat: hence the name shell of Saint James, and the Italian «capa santa», the holy shell. In the northern Adriatic it has always been fished on the sandy seabed off the lagoon, and in Chioggia, the largest fishing port in the area, scallops arrive at the fish market every day together with mantis shrimp and cuttlefish.
In Venetian cooking the scallop is prepared in only a few ways, all of them quick: steamed with a drizzle of oil, seared in a pan with butter, or baked au gratin in the shell, which is the best-loved version. The topping of breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic is the same one that Veneto seafood cooking uses for mussels, queen scallops and razor clams: a humble seasoning made with day-old bread, which in the oven becomes a flavorful crust and shields the shellfish from direct heat. Over time baked scallops became the dish of special occasions, and above all of the meatless Christmas Eve dinner, when in Venice only fish is eaten.
Ingredients
For the scallops
- whole scallops in the shell12
- coarse salt for servingas needed
For the gratin topping
- breadcrumbs50 g
- fresh parsley1 bunch
- garlic1 clove
- zest of an unwaxed lemon1
- extra virgin olive oil4 tablespoons
- fine saltas needed
- black pepperas needed
Nutritional Values per Serving
Values calculated from the recipe's ingredients using the CREA food composition tables, and from the labels of our products where available. They are an estimate per serving, not a laboratory analysis.
Equipment Needed
- Small knife with a short, sturdy blade
- Brush for the shells
- Bowl for the topping
- Baking tray
- Grater for the lemon zest
Tip: If the scallops are still closed, open them by sliding the blade of a small knife between the two halves of the shell, on the flat side, and running it along the upper shell to detach the muscle. Many fishmongers open and clean them at the counter: it is worth asking, and asking them to keep the hollow half of the shell for you, because you need it for cooking.
How to Make Venetian Baked Scallops — Recipe
Cleaning
Open the scallops and detach the white meat and coral from the hollow shell by running the knife blade underneath. Remove the dark frill around them and the black sac, rinse the white meat and coral under a trickle of cold water and pat them dry with paper towels. Wash and scrub the hollow shells well, dry them and put each scallop back into its shell.
Chef's tip: In Venice the coral, the orange part, is kept: it has a more intense flavor than the white meat and stays soft in the oven.
The topping
Heat the oven to 220 °C. Finely chop the parsley together with the garlic clove, with its green germ removed, and put them in a bowl with the breadcrumbs and the grated lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle in the oil, stirring with a fork, until you have a moist, crumbly mixture.
Chef's tip: The mixture should stay crumbly, like wet sand: if it turns into a paste, add a tablespoon of breadcrumbs.
Into the shells
Arrange the shells with the scallops on the baking tray, holding them steady with a little coarse salt or small balls of aluminum foil. Spread the topping over each scallop, covering the white meat well without pressing down, and finish with a drizzle of oil.
Chef's tip: A thin layer of topping is enough: a thick layer cooks more slowly than the shellfish and leaves it raw under a pale crust.
Into the oven
Bake on the upper rack of the oven for 8-10 minutes, until the crust is golden and the white meat has lost its translucency. Serve immediately, in the shells, on a plate covered with coarse salt.
Chef's tip: If the crust does not brown, turn on the broiler for the last minute and keep an eye on it: an overcooked scallop turns rubbery.
Wine to Pair with Venetian Baked Scallops
Baked scallops are a dish of two textures. Underneath is the shellfish, a tender white morsel with a sweet, almost sugary taste of the sea, which the oven barely cooks; on top is the crust of breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic, toasted in the oil and scented with lemon zest. The wine has to respect the first and stand up to the second. The sweetness of the scallop rules out wines with noticeable residual sugar, which would make it cloying, and its delicacy rules out tannin and high alcohol, which smother it and leave a bitter note in the mouth. The crust, on the other hand, calls for acidity, to clean away the oil, and for something that speaks the language of toastiness. What you need is a dry, fresh white with good substance, and a sparkling wine aged at length on its lees has both: the acidity to cut the fat and the bread-crust aromas that echo the gratin topping.
Recommended Sparkling Wine
Franciacorta D.O.C.G. Satèn — Muratori — The **Franciacorta Satèn by Muratori** is a classic-method sparkling wine made from Chardonnay alone, aged on its lees for at least twenty-four months and bottled at reduced pressure, as the style requires. With baked scallops it works in three ways. The bubble, finer and creamier than that of an ordinary Brut, cleans the oil of the crust without assaulting the flesh, which is soft and would fall apart under overly lively carbonation. The acidity of the Chardonnay counterpoints the sweetness of the shellfish and picks up the lemon zest. And the aromas of aging, bread crust and a hint of hazelnut, are the same as those of the breadcrumbs toasted in the oven. With 4 grams of sugar per liter the wine stays dry, and adds no sweetness to a dish that already has plenty. The limit should be said: Satèn is a soft wine, and if the topping is heavy on garlic or cheese its delicacy gets lost, and a tauter sparkling wine would be needed. With the light crust of this recipe the balance holds. Serve it at 6-8 °C, in a white wine glass rather than a flute.
Want to learn more about the grape? our guide to Franciacorta
If You Prefer a Still Wine
Soave Classico D.O.C. — Gini — For those who want to stay in the Veneto with a still wine, the **Soave Classico by Gini** is the choice closest to the Venetian table. It is pure Garganega from vines around eighty years old in Monteforte d'Alpone, on volcanic soils, fermented with native yeasts and left on its lees for six months in steel, with no wood. The minerality of those soils lines up with the savoriness of the shellfish without adding salt, and the almond finish typical of Garganega recalls the toasted breadcrumbs. Its 12 degrees keep the scallop in the foreground. The limit is the oil: without the bubble, only the acidity is there to cut through the crust, and in Garganega it is moderate, so with a very oily topping the Soave stays a step behind the Franciacorta. Its aromas of white flowers and white peach go well with the sweetness of the dish. Serve it at 10 °C.
Craft Beer as an Alternative
Bratty Blanche Beer — Norah's Farm — With baked scallops a beer works if it brings no bitterness, and the **Bratty Blanche by Norah's Farm** has almost none: the hops are barely hinted at. It is a Belgian-style blanche brewed with wheat and oats, spiced with coriander and orange peel, and those two notes do to the dish what the lemon zest does in the crust: they freshen it and add fragrance. The wheat gives a soft body that matches the tender texture of the shellfish, and the carbonation cleans the oil of the gratin. The limit is the aroma: the spices are more intense than the scallop, and anyone looking above all for the sweetness of the shellfish will taste it less than with a wine. At 4,9% vol, serve it at 5-6 °C.
Want to know more about the style? wheat beers
What to Serve Them With
Baked scallops are served straight from the oven, in their shells, on a bed of coarse salt that keeps the shells steady and holds the heat. Three per person are enough as a starter. Alongside, you can serve a salad of raw radicchio di Treviso, lightly dressed: its crisp bitterness counterpoints the sweetness of the shellfish.
If the scallops open a Venetian fish dinner, other starters from the lagoon can sit around them, such as baccalà mantecato on a polenta crostino or folpetti conditi: cold dishes with bold flavors, which leave the warm scallop the role of the most delicate bite. You can bring lemon to the table, but the zest in the crust is usually enough.
Variations
- With butter: melted butter is used instead of oil, giving a softer crust and a rounder flavor. It is the version many families make for Christmas Eve, but it masks the sweetness of the shellfish a little.
- With cheese: some add a tablespoon of grated grana to the topping, which makes the crust more savory and darker. Use it sparingly, because the saltiness of the cheese adds to that of the sea.
- Without garlic: for a more delicate flavor, leave out the garlic and increase the lemon zest, or add a little thyme. This is the version to choose when the scallops are very fresh and you want to taste above all their sweetness.
- With a splash of wine: before covering the scallops with the topping, sprinkle them with a few drops of dry white wine, which evaporates in the oven and keeps the shellfish tender.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many scallops do you need per person?
As a starter, **three per person** are enough if they are medium-sized. If the scallops are the main course of a fish dinner, count five or six. It is worth buying one extra: sometimes one turns out not to be perfect once opened.
Can you eat the scallop coral?
Yes. The coral, the orange part attached to the white meat, is edible and in the Venetian tradition it is cooked together with the rest. It has a stronger flavor and a softer texture than the white meat. What you remove is the dark frill around the shellfish and the black sac.
Can you use frozen scallops?
Yes, but thaw them slowly in the refrigerator, pat them dry thoroughly and cook them a couple of minutes less, because they release more water. The result is good, but frozen scallop meat stays less sweet than fresh. You still need the shells for cooking, and they can also be bought separately.
How can you tell when the scallops are cooked?
When the white meat **loses its translucency** and turns white even in the center, while staying soft to the touch. In the oven at 220 °C, 8-10 minutes are enough. Beyond that, the shellfish contracts, releases water and becomes rubbery.
What wine goes with Venetian baked scallops?
A dry sparkling wine aged on its lees, such as a **Franciacorta Satèn**: the creamy bubble cleans the oil of the crust without covering the sweetness of the scallop. If you prefer a still wine, choose a **Soave Classico**, mineral and with an almond finish. As an alternative, a lightly hopped blanche wheat beer.
