Scallop Sandwich with Zucchini and Chive Lavender Pesto
This sandwich was the perfect meal on Sunday afternoon this past weekend. I had spent Saturday in the North End (the Italian neighborhood in Boston) and had a tasty pasta dish when I was there, but I was a little jealous of all the seafood I saw, and particularly a few lobster rolls I walked by. I wanted to make an Italian inspired seafood sandwich the next day and this was what I came up with. The zucchini salad is inspired by something I ate on a crostini on vacation in Venice last year, with a little mayo added to satisfy my original lobster roll craving. The bread was a tasty focaccia roll I bought at an Italian Market. The scallops were super fresh and just barely kissed by the heat of the grill.
Shave the zucchini with a peeler.
As I mentioned earlier, the pesto is inspired by something I had in Italy on a little wine crawl of Venice. I added mayo because I was initially inspired by a lobster roll.
Pour the pesto onto the zucchini. This salad would be great on its own as a side dish.
Don’t overcook the scallops. Just a few minutes a side.
Crunchy toasted focaccia, super tender scallops, and a little chew from the zucchini gave this sandwich a perfect textural contrast.
The scallops were nice and sweet with that little hint of ocean flavor, and the zucchini had a really nice savory flavor from the chives and pistachio. The lavender gave the whole sandwich just enough of a floral hint.
Please drink a beer with this. Mine was a session pilsner.
Scallop Sandwich with Zucchini and Chive Lavender Pesto
Grilled scallops are served on a focaccia roll and topped with shaved zucchini that is dressed with a pesto of lavender, chive, and pistachio
Servings: 2 sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 package chives like a cup of whole chives
- 2 tablespoons chopped lavender
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 lemon Juice
- 3 zucchini
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 12 scallops
- 2 buns
Instructions
- Mix all the pesto ingredients except the zucchini in a food processor. Don’t over process it, keep it slightly chunky. Use a peeler to make strips of the zucchini and put them in a bowl. Pour the pesto into the bowl with the zucchini and gently toss until it is all coated. Put it into the fridge until you are ready to build the sandwiches.
- Clean the scallops and dry them. Toss them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Depending on how big they are, grill on very high heat for about 2 or 3 minutes a side to brown but just barely cook through. Throw the focaccia on there too to give it a little color.
- Build the sandwich with the scallops first, and then top with the zucchini. My scallops were medium sized and I fit 6 on each sandwich.