Scallops and sfogliatella

Mr K-E and I stayed in our South London neighbourhood today; visiting all the local shops. We are quite spoilt living here as there is an excellent butcher nearby, as well as a very good fishmonger. Also worth mentioning: a specialist cheese shop, a deli, plus several excellent restaurants and boutiques. All within 10 minutes walk of my front door.

Although it is a very "urban" environment, there is a village-y feel. We have a very successful online forum where people talk about local issues, from restaurant reviews to lost pets. There's a real community spirit about the place :)

Anyway, today I had scallops and pancetta for lunch. Nigella has a very simple recipe in How to Eat (see here) but I used pancetta instead of bacon for extra yumminess. I also used lemon juice instead of sherry. Still delicious and oh so easy....


Vegetarians and dieters look away now!

Two thick strips of pancetta from the deli, perfect for cutting into small cubes.

Mr K-E told me off for buying this. It's so bad for you!

(I only used one strip today)












The scallops.








Fry the pancetta in a little olive oil until brown and crispy, then remove the pancetta from the pan.

Next fry some garlic and the scallops in the pancetta flavoured oil for a few minutes. Add some lemon juice and return the pancetta to the pan.

Season with black pepper. There is no need to add salt as the pancetta is naturally salty.





I ate it with rice.

The lemon-y seafood-y sauce tasted delicious mixed with rice.

Nigella says that 10 scallops serve two people. Or one hungry Katie-Ella, hahaha.

(Mr K-E doesn't eat scallops. He had ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch.)







We also discovered these little Italian pastries called sfogliatella. A Neapolitan speciality, apparently.

These were filled with chocolate and vanilla cream.









You'd think I would be stuffed after all those scallops. There's always room for carrot cake.

Mr K-E had chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream. He gave the cake a minute in the microwave which made it warm and gooey.