Pan Seared Scallops with Spinach and Bacon – Julia Child
Seared sea scallops served over a bed of wilted baby spinach and salty bacon pieces, topped off with grated Swiss cheese.
I feel like I’ve been in my own mini Olympics this summer. I started off strong. The dishes were easier than they looked and tasted great. The weeks continued with more challenging and time consuming dishes thrown my way. Always satisfying a taste bud or two. Now that I’m in the home stretch, and though I can clearly see the finish line, I’m losing speed but have determination to finish. I only hope the final recipe is one my own taste buds will enjoy thoroughly.
This girl. Not a fan of seafood. But I’ve grown to enjoy cooking it. Truly. I’ve even enjoyed my trips to the fish market. Which you’ve heard too much about. Move over seafood market, time to annoy everyone with stories of apple farms and pumpkin patches. Yes? Fall is on the horizon and that makes me ridiculously excited.
But for now, put away the apples… they’re my sparkly item that distract me from the present. Ooh an apple!
Okay so the seafood… This dish, continuing along with the easy recipes, was a snap to fix. But unlike the earlier dishes, I strayed away from the original here. Maybe strayed isn’t strong enough. The original recipe was to be a scalloped au gratin recipe. I didn’t broil this, nor did I cover it with an ton of cheese. Instead, I opted to use this week’s recipe as a means for learning how easy it is to cook scallops… especially since I was running short on time and light for the day.
I used spinach for color. Bacon… well, bacon just makes everything better but it gave a nice salty flavor. Since bacon works great with both spinach and scallops, it pulled everything together nicely.
Pan Seared Scallops with Spinach and Bacon
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb sea scallops
- 3 oz baby spinach
- 5 strips center cut bacon
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 C Vermouth, or white wine
- Swiss cheese for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until nearly done. Drain on paper towels.
- Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Carefully add to hot skillet one at a time. Cook in bacon grease until scallops are seared on both sides. If skillet is low on bacon grease, add 1 tbsp butter to pan while cooking scallops. Transfer scallops to a clean plate.
- Add minced garlic and spinach to pan. Toss until spinach is wilted. Pour in Vermouth. Top off with scallops. Toss for several minutes, allowing the flavors to mingle and scallops to cook through.
- Arrange spinach and bacon mixture, topped off with scallops. Sprinkle with freshly grated swiss cheese.
Notes
Celebrating 100 with Julia Child:
Week 1: Rolled omelette
Week 2: Chocolate mousse
Week 3: Coq au Vin
Week 4: Salade Niçoise
Week 5: Vichyssoise
Week 6: Reine de Saba
Week 7: Fillet Meunière
Week 8: Roast Chicken
Week 9: Charlotte Chantilly
Week 10: Bouillabaisse
Week 11: Ratatouille
Week 12: Celery Root Rémoulade
Week 13: Cheese Soufflé
I much prefer the way you rolled with this than the original recipe. Scallops + cheese just sounds gross to me. Seafood is something that just shouldn’t be gratin-ized. When I bite the bullet and fork over $20 for a pound of scallops I make them almost the exact same way. Soooo delicious.
This is pretty much my favorite type of seafood dish – some seared scallops, some greens + a little bacon. Perfection!
oh gosh, your scallops look perfect. that sounded weird/dirty but whatever. love your take on this than the original recipe. this looks like the perfect summer dish, seriously! whip out the grill and there ya go!
This is a beautiful seafood dish. It brings me so much joy to see everyone celebrating Julia Child! She’s my hero.
They look perfect! I love that it’s Swiss cheese on top!
I am impressed with all the seafood you have been cooking for not liking it. You do a beautiful job with it! This looks absolutely amazing! I think I prefer this over the original (the way it sounds anyway). Really beautiful photography as always too.
Oh, goodness….this looks amazing! I love scallops!
Looks good, Rachel! I love scallops and I don’t cook enough of them at home.
ooo I have to try this! BF hates sea scallops but maybe if I adjust and use bay scallops. I could eat eafood like this every day!
Now this looks like a perfect scallop dish. I must try this.
Wow, this looks amazing! Scallops served with spinach and bacon sounds just about as perfect as you can make them. Thanks for sharing. :)