Celery Velouté with Pan-Fried Scallops and Toasted Walnuts
By @coxys_kitchen
The big day is almost here and if you’re still looking for a last minute Christmas Day starter recipe, or maybe something fancy for a New Year’s Eve dinner party, Celery Velouté with Pan-Fried Scallops and Toasted Walnuts could be the one.
Velouté is a super velvety sauce or soup, adding real luxury to any festive dinner party. Use a lot to serve as soup, or a little as bed for the scallops and walnuts to lie on. Celery Velouté with Pan-Fried Scallops and Toasted Walnuts can also easily be adapted for vegetarians, by simply substituting the scallops for pan-fried mushrooms. And the best part… you can make this in advance and save masses of time on the day.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total cooking time: 45 minutes
Cooking time if making the velouté in advance: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
For the velouté:
- 20g Butter
- 1 Echalion (Banana) Shallot, thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp curry powder
- 400g Celery, finely chopped
- Splash of Champagne or Cava
- 250ml Chicken or veg stock
- Salt and white pepper
- Optional: ½ – 1 tsp runny honey
For the scallops:
- 20 large scallops, use more or less depending on their size
- 10g Butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the toasted walnuts:
- 20 Walnut halves, or the same amount as scallops
- Optional: Squeeze of runny honey

To serve:
- Rocket leaves
- Truffle oil, or good quality olive oil
- Ground black pepper
METHOD:
For the velouté:
- In a large sauté or frying pan melt the butter on medium heat, then add the shallots and cook until softened
- Add and stir the curry powder into the shallots, then add the chopped celery, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Go easy on the salt as the stock also includes salt
- Add the Champagne or Cava to the pan and allow a couple of minutes for the alcohol to burn off. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then simmer until the liquid has reduce by half
- Transfer everything to a liquidiser or blender and blitz until smooth. While the motor is still running, add the milk and continue to blitz until completely velvety
- Taste the velouté and if necessary adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. If it needs sweetening, add some or all of the honey
For the scallops:
- Heat a large frying pan on a high heat and add the oil
- Gently dry the scallops on kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper. One-by-one, add the scallops to the pan in a clockwise order and cook for approx. 2-3 minutes; less if the scallops are small. Then, starting with the first scallop added to the pan, turn each scallop in the same order and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Add the butter, then baste each scallop with the butter and set the scallops aside
For the toasted walnuts:
- Leave the hob on high and carefully wipe the scallop pan with kitchen paper. Heat the pan then add the walnut halves so that they start to toast, keep moving the pan so that they don’t burn. If using the honey, lower the heat and drizzle over the honey, making sure that each walnut half is covered
- To serve, divide the velouté between warmed bowls, dot the velouté with equal amounts of scallops and walnut halves. Garnish with a few rocket leaves, a drizzle of truffle or oil, and finish with ground black pepper

Coxy’s Kitchen Tip 1:
For vegetarians, use the stalks of king oyster mushrooms to imitate the scallops, by slicing the stalks into rounds at the same thickness as the scallops and cook in the same way you would the scallops.
Coxy’s Kitchen Tip 2:
To save time, make the velouté in advance. It will keep in the fridge for up to three days, or keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. If frozen let the velouté defrost then reheat in saucepan.
About Coxy’s Kitchen
Coxy’s Kitchen provides a dinner party and private dining service throughout Yorkshire. Gather your nearest and dearest and let Coxy’s Kitchen cook your next dinner party, leaving you all the time to spend with your guests, instead of slaving over a hot stove. To make an enquiry or for an initial consultation, please email [email protected]
1 thought on “Celery Velouté with Pan-Fried Scallops and Toasted Walnuts – Recipe!”
Comments are closed.