Scampi (langoustines) are caught locally here, but most of them get exported. Luckily I work very close to the Albert Cuyp market, which has an excellent selection of fresh seafood. Silva Rigobello has been posting a number of scampi recipes lately, and this post was inspired by her recipe for ‘Parisian’ scampi with a cream sauce. Since the recipe included Cointreau (which I substituted with Grand Marnier), I thought it would be nice to pair with a fennel salad and orange supremes. The orange and fennel provide a fresh and crunchy counterpart to the velvety scampi in cream sauce. The dish turned out rather nicely. Grazie per l’ispirazione, Silva! Here’s what I did…

Ingredients

For 2 servings (I only made a single serving as I was by myself tonight)

250 grams (.55 lb) of peeled and deveined scampi (from about 1 kilogram/2.2 lbs of gross weight; reserve the heads and shells in the freezer to make stock)

2 shallots, minced

2 oranges

2 Tbsp tomato puree or 1 Tbsp tomato paste

130 grams (2/3 cups) rice

salt and freshly ground white pepper

dash of smoked paprika

120 ml (1/2 cup) Grand Marnier

120 ml (1/2 cup) cream

2 Tbsp butter

400 grams cleaned fennel

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Prepare the white rice the way you like it.

Slice the fennel thinly and put in a bowl. Add grated orange zest.

Peel the orange and cut the ‘supremes’ from between the membranes with a sharp paring knife. Do this above the bowl, so you will catch any dripping orange juice to dress the fennel.

When you’ve finished cutting the supremes, squeeze the remainder of the orange to obtain the juice.

Add the olive oil and salt to taste and toss to mix.

Sweat the shallots in the butter over low heat until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomato puree and stir to incorporate.

Add the scampi, and season with salt, freshly ground white pepper, and a dash of smoked paprika. Cook over medium heat for about a minute per side.

Add the Grand Marnier and cook for a minute, stirring.

Add the cream.

Stir and cook over low heat until the sauce has a nice consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Arrange a ring of rice on each plate, and surround it with a ring of fennel salad.

Arrange the orange supremes on top of the fennel salad.

Finish with the scampi and sauce in the center, and serve at once.

Flashback

Foie gras with beetroot and goat cheese sounds like an unlikely flavor combination, but it works really well. When eaten together, it has the great effect that you first taste the beetroot, then the foie gras and finally the goat cheese. The colors of purple, pink, and white look pretty as well.