For the perfect Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve starter, try these fresh scallops, delicately flavoured with lemon butter and complemented with pea puree, served on warm slices of Paul Hollywood Ready to Bake Rustic Rolls.

Serves: 4

Takes: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Paul Hollywood Ready To Bake Rustic Rolls

• 200g frozen peas

• 1 clove garlic, unpeeled and smashed

• 1 tsp veg stock powder or half a vegetable stock cube

• Good pinch sea salt

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

• 16-18 fresh scallops (small ones work best), patted dry with kitchen paper

• 2 tbsp salted butter

• 1-2 tsp oil

• Black pepper

• A few sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves only

• Salad leaves

• 1 lemon, cut into small wedges to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Place the Rustic Rolls onto a baking tray and bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes.

2. Place the peas in a small saucepan and pour over boiling water to just cover them. Add the stock and whole garlic clove and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.

3. Drain the peas and add to a small food processor or blender with a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp olive oil and the juice of half a lemon. Whizz to a puree, scraping down the sides a few times. Add a little more oil and lemon juice if needed – it needs to be a thick spreading consistency. 

4. Cut the Rustic Rolls diagonally into 4 slices (you can eat the ends with a bit of butter!) Heat a griddle pan or frying pan over high heat. Drizzle a little olive oil onto the slices and toast in the griddle pan for a couple of minutes on each side

5. Spread some pea puree over each slice and place two slices onto each plate

6. Heat a large frying pan over high heat and add 1-2 tsp oil, enough to just lightly cover the pan. Add the scallops and cook for 2 minutes, without moving them, until golden. Then quickly turn them all over and add the butter and half of the lemon zest. Cook for a further minute or two, basting with the butter – they will be warm but not piping hot in the middle. Don’t overcook or they will be chewy

7. Add two or three scallops to each slice of toast and spoon over a little of the lemon butter. Scatter over the parsley and rest of the zest. Season with black pepper and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over