“This makes such a good starter or lunch… The combination of pumpkin and scallops is wonderful, while the dressing with pumpkin seeds adds texture and rounds off the dish so well. If you want to keep it simple or don’t like scallops, the soup is great on its own”
NATHAN OUTLAW
Chef’s secret recipe
Pumpkin soup with fried scallops
Serves 4 Hands-on time 30 min Simmering time 25 min
MAKE AHEAD
Make the soup up to 3 days in advance, then cover and store in the fridge. Reheat before serving.
BE A BETTER COOK
When cooking scallops, always add them to the pan in a clockwise pattern, starting at 12 o’clock. That way, you’ll know what order you added them, so you can flip them in the same order and they’ll all be perfectly cooked.
• 12 large scallops, roes removed if you prefer
For the soup
• Olive oil for cooking
• 75g unsalted butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
• 800g pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and chopped
• 800ml good quality vegetable stock
• 100ml double cream
For the dressing and garnish
• 4 tsp pumpkin seeds
• 4 tbsp pumpkin seed oil
• 2 tsp thyme leaves
1 For the soup, heat a large pan (one with a tight-fitting lid) over a medium heat. Add a drizzle of oil and the butter. Once foaming, add the onions and cook gently for 5 minutes until they begin to soften but not colour. Add the garlic, thyme and pumpkin, then cook for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then so it doesn’t catch.
2 Pour in half the stock, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender. Meanwhile make the dressing: lightly toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Add a pinch of salt and the pumpkin seed oil. Set aside.
3 After 20 minutes, remove the lid from the soup and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the remaining stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then stir in the cream. Return to the boil, then leave to cool a little.
4 Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and whizz for 2 minutes (or use a stick blender to whizz until smooth). Return to the pan and set aside.
5 To cook the scallops, put a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Once hot, lay all the scallops in the
