Ah… Valentine’s Day. In our house, it’s just another “Hallmark Holiday” but I do treat my favorite guy with something special. This year, I chose to make a seafood dish since he loves seafood. Aside from shrimp, he has quite a fondness of scallops… big scallops. I know I could have made the usual broiled scallop dish but instead, I opted to make these Stuffed Scallops. Beautiful scallop shells are filled with a mixture of bay scallops, onions, fresh herbs and breadcrumbs and baked to a golden brown. The presentation is pretty, the filling is delicious and it’s a nice way to enjoy scallops if you don’t eat it very often.
This past New Year’s Eve, we had planned on making stuffed scallops as an appetizer but with all the other food we had, the scallops appetizers never came out of the kitchen. When my husband brought it up a few weeks ago, it inspired me to make it for him since it was a dish he was looking forward to.
Making these Stuffed Scallops were pretty easy and the filling reminded me of crab cakes. The filling took no time to make and you could prepare these in advance and freeze before baking.
They make a great appetizer or a few could easily make a meal. Lastly, if you’re not sure where to get scallop shells, try asking your local fish monger or seafood person at your local market.
Stuffed Scallops
recipe adapted from Lee’s
Stuffed Scallops Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 small red bell pepper, minced
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2/3 – 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 lb. bay scallops, diced and cleaned
- 18-20 cleaned scallop shells (2”-3”)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Stuffed Scallops Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat, add diced onion and bell pepper and sauté until transparent.
- Add the wine and Worcestershire sauce and mix well.
- Stir in bread crumbs and herbs and brown the mixture, adding more wine if necessary to get a stuffing like consistency.
- Combine the scallops with the stuffing. Fill the scallop shells with the mixture.
- After the scallop shells are stuffed, place in 375°F oven for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve warm as an appetizer or as an entree.
These look so good!! I've been dying for scallops. I typically go for the big broiled ones too.. but those look amazing!! The shells remind me of when I was a kid in Nova Scotia seeing the scallops boats come in!
Can I make these in the morning for later that day, should I cook and then reheat later, or stuff and refrigerate, then cook later?
Thanks!