Scottish scallops with celeriac and apple purée and a roasted celeriac emulsion

Remove the scallops from their shells and trim away the coral, then wash in iced or cold water. Place on a cloth and pat dry, then place in the fridge until ready to cook (you can ask your fishmonger to complete this step if preferred)

Preheat an oven to 150°C/gas mark 2. Peel the celeriac with a sharp knife, then chop the skin into small pieces and rinse thoroughly to remove any soil. Drain, then place in a baking dish with 100g of the butter and cook in the oven for around 15-20 minutes until the skins are lightly caramelised (but do not let the butter burn)

Deglaze the baking dish with the Madeira, then transfer everything to a saucepan and add the thyme and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and reduce until it has the consistency of a light syrup

Meanwhile, very finely slice the peeled celeriac a few times to create sheets roughly 2mm thick, then use a round 3.5cm cutter to cut out 8 discs (the size of the celeriac will determine how many sheets you need to cut). Reserve any trimmings along with the remaining celeriac and set aside

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the celeriac discs for 1 minute, then drain, refresh in iced water and set aside

Chop the remaining raw celeriac into small cubes (roughly 1.5cm) and add to a pan along with trimmings from cutting out the discs with 125g of the butter and a pinch of salt. Cover with water until just submerged, then bring to the boil as quickly as possible and cook until very tender and roughly half the amount of water has evaporated

Meanwhile, core and roughly chop 5 of the apples. Once half the water has evaporated, add the apples to the pan and continue to cook until the rest of the water has evaporated, stirring regularly to ensure the mixture doesn’t catch or burn

Once the celeriac and chicken stock sauce has become syrupy, pass the liquid through a fine sieve into a clean pan and place back over the heat to reduce down further until emulsified. Once you’re happy with the consistency, check for seasoning and either keep warm or set aside to reheat when serving

When all the water in the apple and celeriac mixture has evaporated, transfer the mixture to a blender and blitz until very smooth. Pass through a sieve into a clean pan and set aside to reheat before serving

Peel the remaining apple and cut into 2mm slices, then cut 8 discs out with a 3.5cm cutter. Place them on a baking tray along with the blanched discs of celeriac and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Gently warm through in a low oven or under the grill

Meanwhile, gently reheat the purée and sauce, ready for plating

To cook the scallops, heat a dash of olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Season the scallops and cook for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and just cooked through

To plate, use a spoon to drag 2 lines of the purée across each plate. Add 2 discs of celeriac and 2 discs of apple to each plate, then add 2 scallops to each plate. Drizzle with the warm sauce, garnish with celery leaves and serve immediately