Those Galician Scallops are exquisite with a smooth white wine bechamel and a crunchy iberic ham to top them! Surf and Turf at it’s best!

The Variegated Scallops or Zamburiñas are a small variety of Galician scallops about twice or three times smaller than normal scallops. Check the picture below to see the difference. Those mollusks are changing sex many times during their lifetime to end up male. Which I find strange/funny because shell “concha” in Spanish means “the lady part” in South America… Well, let’s leave it to that! In Spain the coral (roe) is also eaten, especially with this smaller variety of scallops, the coral results more tender than the usual scallops. If you make the recipe with normal sized scallops, you should avoid leaving them in, they are quite rough to eat, I suggest to cut them into really small dices and add them to the bechamel if you want to make good use of the coral.

The region where you’ll find those Zamburiñas is north west of Spain in Galicia, which is the land of many other great dishes for example; the Galician octopus called pulpo a la gallega or the galician cod (Bacalao a la gallega), they even make a pie with the Zamburiñas, etc. The shell from this particular variety of scallops is the symbol of the famous route of Santiago de Compostela. Back in the days, having one of those shells would mean that you have done it! the whole Christian pilgrimage to the Tomb of James in Santiago de Compostela. Many paths exist to reach Santiago de Compostela just like its shell symbol with its many lines meeting in one point, a perfect symbol for the pilgrimage.

Let’s talk taste

In Spain, the common belief is that the small scallops taste better… although, personally I didn’t find a big difference if any…February is the peak of the scallops season, right now they are affordable (in Spain) and are great to serve as an appetizers or tapas. Spanish people often serve their scallops with a touch of iberic ham, sometimes with a garlic-onion sauce,  a simple parsley, lemon and olive oil drizzle, or spicy tomato sauce, etc. For this batch I wanted to try scallops the surf and turf way with the cured ham. I’ve made the scallops with a tad white wine bechamel and topped it with a few pieces of iberic ham (or any cured ham) enveloped in bread crumbs. Then in the oven the bechamel will lightly get golden and smooth things up while the iberic ham will become crispier for a nicely textured and flavorful tapa!

The recipe is suitable for normal sized scallops. So let’s get to it!

Iberic Variegated Scallops (Zamburiñas)

Makes 10 Zamburiñas or 4 scallops | Preparation: 15 minutes | Difficulty: easy

Ingredients

• 10 Zamburiñas or 4 scallops with shell
• 100g of iberic ham (any cured ham), cut into small cubes
• 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs *optional for extra crunch

Bechamel sauce

• 2 tbsp of flour
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 50ml of white wine
• 150 ml of milk or cream
• flat leave parsley, finely chopped
• pinch of nutmeg *optional
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Start by taking the frozen scallops out of the freezer, leave them in the fridge for 30 minutes before the cooking starts
2. In a small sauce pan, add the butter and flour, medium-high heat and let the flour cook for a minute or two until it start to smell nutty
3. Add the splash of white wine then the milk and the spices and whisk until it becomes thick
4. Add the breadcrumbs to the ham and mix
5. Add the bechamel sauce on top of the scallops with the pieces of cured ham
6. Preheat the oven to the max, broil the scallops for about 4 minutes (for the small ones) or 5-6 minutes (normal sized scallops)
7. Serve

Enjoy!