We are so excited to welcome our next guest chef, the incredible Chloe Lucas-Walsh, aka @chloecooks! We are legitimately addicted to Chloe's beautiful instagram feed and love her recipes that are perfectly simple and beyond delicious. Chloe hails from the UK and now lives in Los Angeles where she is a chef, recipe developer, food stylist, writer, creative and supper club host. Chloe's newsletter Anchovies and Soup is a must subscribe in our opinion. We were thrilled when Chloe wanted to collaborate on her last supper club which featured some of her favorite dishes inspired by her home country, Great Britain paired with our wines. Here she shares one of her recipes for Scallops with Cavolo Nero Sauce which was served with our rosé.

"I thought the bright, crispness from the rosé would pair so beautifully with my scallop dish. I served the scallops with a creamy, kale sauce. The slight bitterness from the kale was really complimented by the rose too. Such a fab pairing," says Chloe. This dish will definitely impress at your next dinner party. 

 Q+A

What inspires you to cook? Everything and anything! Travel, eating out in restaurants, my grandma, other chefs, the farmers market, the seasons!

Describe your cooking style. Simple. Seasonal. Attainable. Modern European with accents of regional Italian, rustic French, modern British with a sprinkle of Spanish flavors too. 

What is the soundtrack of your life? A mix of Jazz with lots of 70’s disco and Balearic beats. 

What is your favorite ingredient this spring? Peas! I am so excited about peas because you can actually use them in a lot more ways than you would think. They are amazing in soup, incredible blended with some ricotta and then stirred into pasta. Pea puree is so underrated and they are so good simply sauteed in a little butter and then served on some toast over ricotta, with a little sprig of mint and flaky salt! So good, :)

Best bite you had recently? I had some amazing food at a pizzeria in Berkeley recently. The pizza was phenomenal–thin crust, slightly charred but had a great bite, as well as being chewy. The spicy caesar was to die for but the gigante beans with roasted feta and baby artichokes were the star of the show. I cannot stop thinking about the entire thing!

What is your favorite restaurant? This is so hard but right now I would have to say Towpath Cafe in London. It is the sweetest little cafe by day, and cute little wine bar by night. It sits right on the Hackney canal in De Beauvoir Town. There are too many reasons as to why I love it so much but specifically their food is absolutely incredible and really resonates with the way I cook. And I think I pick up their cookbook the most too.

Where is your dream kitchen? An outdoor kitchen in Tuscany, Italy. 

If you weren’t a chef, what would you be? I used to work in interiors, so I would most likely be doing that. But I graduated doing Fine Art–Painting. So, perhaps I would be doing that too. 

What do you want to make next? I am dreaming up this really wide noodle pasta dish with black trumpet mushrooms and cured egg yolk. I just have a craving for it!

RECIPE

SCALLOPS WITH CAVOLO NERO SAUCE
Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 U-10 scallops (or the largest scallops you can find)
1 bunch of tuscan kale
10 cloves of garlic
½ cup of ricotta
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
Flaky salt for serving
Lemon zest for serving
Parmesan for serving 

Process:

Begin by getting the scallops out of the fridge. Pat them dry with some kitchen paper and set aside. 

Next bring a pot of water to a boil and drop in the entire bunch of kale and all of the garlic. Let everything cook for 5-7 minutes, keeping the water at a rolling boil. 

Once the kale is wilted and the garlic has softened, drain in a colander and  then carefully transfer everything into a high speed blender like vitamix or nutribullet. Add in the ricotta, olive oil and salt for seasoning and blend until smooth. Set aside whilst you cook the scallops. 

Get a non-stick or cast iron pan ripping hot, and add in a little olive oil. Salt each scallop a little then drop them, one by one, into the ripping hot pan. Once in the pan, do not move the scallop–leave them untouched for at least 2 minutes. We want a crust to form. After 2-3 minutes once you are satisfied with the browning, turn the scallop onto the other side and repeat the process. I never leave the second side for any longer than 2 minutes, otherwise the scallop tends to overcook. 

Serve the scallop on a plate or a scallop shell, with a few large spoonfuls of the kale sauce. Grate over some lemon zest and dust with a sprinkling of parmesan and serve with a cold glass of Lorenza Rosé. 

This is perfect on its own as an appetizer or it is gorgeous with some boiled, buttery new potatoes and a big green salad. 

 Stock up on Lorenza Rosé for your next dinner party!