I was always told that smoking seafood leaves a lingering odor/flavor in your smoker. At some point, you don’t care and want to get sweet savory smoke on a creature of the ocean. Enter: The Scallop.
The Prep Table
I was hoping for some big ol fresh scallops from the counter – but it wasn’t the case. So I grabbed a pack of frozen, the only prosciutto available and of course the green onions. I love me a green onion and it’s a great addition the seafood (And the dollar pasta)
I threw a handful of them sweet bivalve mollusks in a colander and did a quick thaw.
I wanted to impart a little bit of cajun in there and I almost forgot about the Holy Voodoo seasoning I picked up from Meat Church. The other seasonings worked out great, so I had no doubt that this would as well.
Threw a bit of olive oil in a Ziploc bag, but them scallops in and dusted them with the Voodoo. Shook it up and put them in the fridge for about an hour.
I still had some char-hickory and apple smoke in the RecTeq hopper – and I knew this was going to be a short smoke, so I just left it in there. I always love hickory and knew the apple would match the prosciutto just fine.
I chopped up the green onion, and that was about it for the prep. Really easy.
The Process
After the scallops have sat for a bit, I got that smoker to about 210 degrees and got ready to (attempt) to wrap the scallops.
I thought the prosciutto would be easy to wrap, but due mostly in part to impatience, I did a hack job on the wrap. I tried to slice them in nice, uniform strips – but it didn’t go great.
I use the frogmat quite a bit for smoking small items. These things are absolutely great for bacon and was definitely my go to for this one. Use what you have, frogmat, grill basket – just make sure you’re not gonna lose one of these in the smoker.
Grill temp was steady at 210, and it was definitely time to throw them on. It was already late, and I was stupid hungry.
Scallops were not easy to get timed right. I was looking for an internal temp of 145 across the board – and that occurred for none of them at the same time. Everything I’ve read was “Don’t overcook!”. So I must’ve opened the hood on the smoker a dozen times to make sure they were pulled at 145. One here, one there – 2 more here. I’d suggest checking at about 50 minutes and every 5-10 minutes thereafter. The biggest one took about an hour and 20 minutes.. while the smaller ones were about 50 minutes. For those smaller ones, I ate them while the rest cooked.
Speaking of which:
The Result
The picture really captures everything good with this meal
The proscuitto had an absolutely perfect crisp to it.. It would break with a little bend – but wasn’t brittle. The scallops had a great color and having already ate two of them, and a bit of that Knorrs, I had to dig in and get ’em while they were hot.
You can see from where I cut the scallop – that the prosciutto kind of slips off. These were a perfect size to pop the entire scallop in your mouth get that meaty, crisp meat and the soft scallop to mix together. The green onion probably wasn’t necessary, but did add some freshness to the bite.
Overall, these things were amazing. You’re going to spend a bit for scallops, and I wouldn’t hesitate to make these again. And I probably will seeing that I have half a bag left.
Like what you see? Let me know! Any suggestions are welcome. I’m sure I’ll get at least one person saying “BACON?!” in response to the prosciutto – but I think it worked great in this case.
And because I know you’re not going to ask, nor care – the Knorr pasta was decent at best – which is probably all they’re going for.
The Recipe
The Prosciutto-wrapped Scallop
Ingredients
- 6-8 Medium-sized Scallops Fresh or thawed
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1-2 Tbsp Meat Church Holy Voodoo Rub Depending on how much seasoning you want
- 1-2 Slices Prosciutto Enough to cut strips to wrap
- 1 Green Onion Sliced thin
Instructions
- If scallops are frozen, make sure you thaw out the night before or under cold running water (Refer to packaging)
- Place scallops, olive oil, and seasoning into ziploc bag. Shake and incorporate. Place into fridge for an hour.
- Preheat smoker to 200-225 – I did 210 to split the difference.
- Slice prosciutto pieces same width as scallops (ish). Wrap and use toothpick to hold in place if necessary.
- Place scallops onto frogmat and smoke for 45-1hr, until internal temp is 145f Check after the 45 minute mark – mine finished anywhere from 50min-80min.
- Plate and garnish with green onion
- Enjoy!
What about smoked cheese? Will you do a post on that? For your vegetarian fans.