Never Waste Seafood Roe: Convert It To a Premium Butter – Recipe

Outside its breathtaking shores and rugged coastline, Jersey has a exceptional food culture, deeply grounded in both soil and ocean. From world-famous local baby potatoes to shellfish more succulent and softer than those tasted anywhere else, the island's bounty is unsurpassed. What excites me above all, though, is the way island producers and growers are adopting regenerative farming, and in doing so reimagining the island's food future with innovation and dedication.

Recently, I was fortunate to host a talk at an inspiring gathering, and prepare a welcome dinner for all participants, alongside a inspiring founder. Naturally, scallops were a must on my menu, since they're the island at their finest: subtle, plump and bursting of the ocean.

Scallops appear as the perfect symbol of the island's culinary evolution: succulent, full and regenerative by design, filtering and refreshing the water while contributing to create shoreline habitats. Whether farmed and, importantly, hand-harvested, they're among the most sustainable proteins we can eat. Yet many, those grew up on Jersey, do not eat the roes – a common habit, unfortunately. Even more reason to celebrate those rosy tidbits, which are much too tasty to discard. Blended into a spread, they become sheer luxury: drizzle over the shellfish, stir into rice dishes or just slather on toasted bread.

Scallops may be a little expensive, however, so I've devised the following method to turn just one scallop into an impressive starter (or three into a satisfying main course) and, by blending their roe into smoked paprika butter and roasting them in their shells with small tomatoes and garlic, potential waste becomes a delicacy.

This spirit of reinvention is at the heart of this approach, which has launched a prize providing support to innovators with backing, guidance and access to a retail platform. Evaluated by a panel of esteemed food heroes, the prize will be presented at an forthcoming event. This is about supporting concepts that can assist the agricultural networks thrive, from soil to sea, and there's no better a more exciting place for this dialogue to start than Jersey.

Scallops Baked in Egg Spread with Cherry Tomatoes and Garlic

Serves six as a starter or 2 as a main course

6 with eggs scallops in the half-shell
18 small tomatoes, halved
Six garlic cloves, crushed
Three fresh red chillies (such as jalapeño), split lengthwise, or one pinch red pepper flakes, or to preference (optional)
50g butter
One teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Lemon wedges, to accompany
A little sea asparagus, saltwort or six small pickle slices, to garnish (optional)

Clean the scallops, removing the roe from every and keeping the rest of the scallop attached to the half-shell (ask the fishmonger to handle this for you, if necessary). Put 6 cherry tomato halves in each half-shell with a clove's worth of smashed garlic cloves and one half a red chilli, if using.

Transfer the eggs in a container of a hand blender (many prefer it's the best method for blending tiny quantities), add the spread and spice, and blend until creamy. Distribute the butter between the half-shells, ensuring each scallop is thoroughly covered in the spread.

Preheat the broiler until it's very hot, then place the scallops beneath the flame for six to eight minutes, until charred and bubbling. Present immediately, topped with optional sea vegetables, herbs, a slice of gherkin and/or a splash of the pickle juice or some lemon juice.