Gary and Jane Langton Provencal Recipes Soup Taste

Fall Soup Recipe: Butternut Squash Soup with Roast Scallops

This is a lovely velvety butternut squash soup garnished with sautéed scallops and crispy bacon lardons. Perfect as a starter for a winter dinner party, or a warming lunch with plenty of crusty French bread. If you can’t get scallops or don’t like them, replace with gently sautéed sliced mushrooms.

Butternut Squash Soup with Roast Scallops

Smooth and creamy butternut squash topped with crispy bacon lardons and succulent scallops.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Total Time 55

Course Lunch Dish, Starter Course

Cuisine French, Provencal

Servings people

Ingredients

750 gr butternut squash
2 shallot(s) peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
600 ml vegetable stock
25 gr butter
75 ml double cream
2-3 large scallops
150 gr Bacon lardons
1 tbsp parsley chopped
salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Place a sauté pan on medium heat.
Gently fry the bacon lardons until crispy, then set aside.
Peel, de-seed and chop the butternut squash into1 inch pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and gently sauté the chopped shallots for about 6 minutes until soft, but not coloured.
Add the chopped squash and the butter.
Stirring gently, cook over a medium heat for approximately 10 minutes until the squash is soft and turning slightly golden.
Pour in enough of the vegetable stock to cover the squash and simmer gently for about 6 to 8 minutes until the squash is very soft.
Remove from the heat.
Lift the vegetables from the stock with a slotted spoon and place in a blender.
Add 2 tbls of the remaining stock and blitz until smooth.
Pour the puree back into the pan and add the cream.
Add any remaining stock until the mixture has the consistency of pouring cream.
Strain the soup through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and set-aside until your ready to serve.
Warm the soup through before you start to cook the scallops.
Halve each scallop horizontally and season with salt and pepper.
When you are ready to serve, fry the scallops for about one minute on each side (do not over cook) until lightly golden.
To serve, pour the soup into warmed soup bowls, place a scallop disc or two into the centre and then scatter over the crispy lardons and chopped parsley.

Notes

It serves 4 as a main, but can easily serve 6 as a starter.

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Tags:Bacon,Butternut Squash,Scallops

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Gary and Jane Langton

When Jane was younger she wanted to be a show-jumper and, although she had some success, Jane knew she could never afford a horse that could take her to the top. Similarly, Jane enjoyed cooking and would have loved to be a chef, but she always knew that the unsocial hours would never fit with raising her family. So she stepped into the world of property construction and interior design, where she enjoyed a successful and fun filled career.

Gary went to a nautical school and always dreamed of going to sea, captaining his own ship. Although he managed to be selected for officer training in the Royal Navy at an early age, by the time he was 18 he no longer had 20:20 vision and his chosen field in the RN was no longer open to him. For a short period Gary studied quantity surveying before finally choosing a career in banking, during which time he lived for a period in New York before returning to London and ultimately running a global business team (involving much travel).

Jane and Gary met, via the internet, in February 2005 and their relationship took off. By 2007 they were married and, in early 2009, they both decided that enough was enough - the constant travelling with their jobs, rushed weekends together and too much politics in their business lives finally taking its toll.

So they decided on a total change of life. Jane had always dreamed of running a boutique hotel or upmarket B&B and pushed this idea which was accepted by Gary as he couldn’t come up with an alternative plan. The couple finally decided on France (proximity to their children in the UK and good weather) and spent about 18 months viewing 100+ properties in the South of France, from Provence to almost Spain and back, before finally settling (in December 2010) on an old stone house (and former silk farm) in La Bruguiere, a small village about 10 minutes from Uzes, France’s first Duchy and a beautiful little town.

The house renovation took 17 months and they first opened for business in summer 2012. As they end their sixth year in France the couple have no regrets and remain positive about their future.

Jane has finally managed to fulfil one of her childhood dreams of cooking professionally for others and continues to ride her horse. Gary works front of house at Mas d'Augustine their chambres d’hôte and (when asked) offers business advice to friends/associates in their location, whilst amusing himself by playing (bass) in a local French group. The couple recently started an additional business to project manage renovation works/remodelling (and, if requested, provide interior design) of holiday homes for absentee owners.

Life is too short to stand still and wait for it – Jane and Gary are firm believers that life is for the taking. Enjoy Jane's recipes here or spend a couple of nights to savour her cooking first hand.

Fall Soup Recipe: Butternut Squash Soup with Roast Scallops