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Seafood Bread - cross section

Seafood Bread


  • Author: Jacques Pépin
  • Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x

Description

This beautiful loaf is filled with tender seafood, mushrooms, and an herb butter. Delicious as a starter or for lunch. This recipe appears in several of Jacques Pépin’s cookbooks with slight variations. This version is modified from the recipe on epicurious.com.


Ingredients

Scale

For the garlic-herb butter

1/2 cup parsley

1/2 cup herbs (a mixture of your preference like dill, parsley, basil, chives, chervil, etc.)

3 large cloves garlic

3 tablespoons pecan halves or almonds, optional

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons dry white wine

2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)

For the seafood bread

1 large, oval country-bread loaf (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1/2 pound shrimp, shelled

1/2 pound sea scallops

1/2 pound salmon, boneless and skinless

1/2 pound wild or white cultivated mushrooms

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

A cup dry white vermouth or white wine


Instructions

For the garlic herb butter

Put the parsley, other herbs, and garlic in the food-processor bowl, and process until the mixture is chopped fine.

Add the nuts, softened butter, salt, pepper, and white wine, and process until blended.

Stir in the shallots.

To prepare the bread

Using a sharp knife, cut off the top of the bread loaf, and remove the top or “lid” of the bread. Set this “lid” aside, to eat or use in another recipe.

Measuring in about ¾-inch from the edge of the loaf, cut down into and all around the loaf, taking care not to penetrate the sides or bottom, to create a neat edge from which to remove the interior crumb. Twist the soft insides to loosen them, then pull them out, so you have a large receptacle or shell.

If the insides of the bread are very soft, cut them into pieces and dry them briefly in the hot oven. Then place about half of the insides into the bowl of a food processor, and process to make 2½ to 3 cups of crumbs. Set these aside, and keep the remainder of the bread insides for another use.

To prepare the filling

Cut the seafood into 1-inch pieces

Slice the mushrooms.

To assemble and bake the loaf

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Using a large spatula, coat the inside of the hollow loaf with about a third of the garlic-herb butter. Sprinkle half the mushrooms and half the seafood into the bread receptacle, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Add a layer of the garlic-herb butter, then about half of the breadcrumbs, and the remainder of the seafood and mushrooms. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Finally, spread the remaining butter on top, cover with the remaining breadcrumbs, and moisten the breadcrumbs with the vermouth or white wine.

Place the filled bread loaf on a cookie sheet, and bake for about 1 hour. Let the bread rest for 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven, then cut it into large chunks, and serve immediately.

Notes

The seafood listed in this recipe are suggestions. Use a combination of seafood that’s freshest and to your liking. You need about 1½ – 2 pounds total.

From Jacques Pepin Celebrates: 200 of His Most Cherished Recipes for Memorable Meals with Family and Friends © 2001 by Jacques Pépin

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Inactive Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: Main Dishes, Seafood
  • Cuisine: French

Nutrition

  • Calories: 442.41
  • Sugar: 5.28 g.
  • Sodium: 962.12 mg.
  • Fat: 24.36 g.
  • Saturated Fat: 12.03 g.
  • Carbohydrates: 17.52 g.
  • Fiber: 2.66 g.
  • Protein: 28.30 g.
  • Cholesterol: 194.67 g.

Keywords: seafood, Jacques Pepin