The vegetarian Breton shell is the seafood-free version of the Nantes and Brittany specialty, coquille à la bretonne, Breton shell or Breton scallops. In this case, it is made with sautéed mushrooms on a filling of shallots, seaweed, white wine, vegetable cream and stale bread, covered with sweet potato balls and seaweed.
This preparation very faithfully reproduces the acidic and salty flavor characteristic of the original recipe, but it does not contain shellfish, so the dish is lighter, it is much cheaper and easier to prepare.
To give it the appearance of the original dish, it is baked with a topping of sweet potato balls coated in breadcrumbs and served in individual bowls, as if they were shells.
Ingredients for 4 people:
preparation:
- Wash the mushrooms , remove the stem and cut them into pieces .
- Brown them in a tablespoon of olive oil and add a little sugar to make them caramelize. Season with pepper to taste, and reserve.
- Peel the shallots, chop them, remove the seeds from the pepper, chop and sauté both ingredients until golden brown.
- In a bowl, combine the shallots, mushrooms, grated or crumbled stale bread, wine, and chopped herbs .
- Give a point of salt.
- Add the crushed garlic cloves, the seaweed and the vegetable cream .
- Stir and cook for a few minutes, until the liquid reduces , and reserve.
- To make the topping, use an ice cream scoop or regular spoon and roll the sweet potato pulp into balls.
- Poach the balls in boiling water with a little seaweed , for about 3 minutes. They should be soft, but without losing their shape.
- Spread a little oil in clay molds for the oven, pour the preparation in portions, cover with the sweet potato balls and cover them with breadcrumbs.
- A typical presentation of this dish that you can emulate, even if it is a vegetarian recipe, is in oyster shells or empty scallops.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Serve piping hot .
Did you like this vegetarian version of the Breton shell? Leave us your comments about the original version or this variant without scallops.
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