It’s that time of year when pumpkins and squash are in season. The bright orange colour of a soup just makes you think of autumn and winter! This week I have made for you a pumpkin soup served with a seared scallop. I have used a muscade pumpkin here, if you can’t manage to find one then any type of squash will do the job. This is a soup that will warm you from the inside out!

Serves 6+

Ingredients:

1 x Pumpkin

Pumpkin Seeds

Scallops – Number depends on how many served.

100g Butter

2 x White onions, sliced.

Vegetable stock/ water

Olive oil

Lemon

Salt

Method:

Pre heat oven – 180c (for scallops) Gas Mark 4

If you are fortunate enough to get your hands on fresh scallops remove from the shell if intact along with the roe leaving the white meat. Wash gentle and dry on a cloth. Refrigerate until needed. Alternatively any good supermarket or fish monger will have these prepared for you.

For the pumpkin seeds I have just roasted them in the oven for a few minutes dressed in a small amount of olive oil and allowed to drain on a cloth.

First Peel, de-seed and slice the pumpkin. Cut it into thin slices. In a heavy based pan heat the butter and add the onions, cook these on a medium heat until soft with no colour. Next add the pumpkin, season it well with salt and cook on a moderate heat until the pumpkin starts to break down. In the meantime have your stock heating. Add this to the soup just enough to cover the pumpkin. Turn up the heat and cook fast until the pumpkin is soft. Once soft and cooked down, transfer the soup to a blender and blitz. Pass it through a fine sieve. If you saving it for a later date, cool over ice water to keep the vibrant orange colour! Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

For the scallop you need a frying pan set to a high heat. Add a little oil to the pan, season the scallop well with salt and place the scallop flat side down on in the pan. Colour gently on the flat side and place in the oven for around 2 – 3 minutes depending on the size. Remove from the oven, turn over and add a small amount of lemon juice.

Heat the soup, pour into a bowl and place the scallop in the middle. Garnish with herbs if you wish along with a scatter of pumpkin seeds.

A tip for this soup is to cook it fast – A slow simmering soup with result in a dull, stewed tasting soup which is not pleasant after the effort you may have gone too slicing through the large pumpkin!

Enjoy!