When autumn has arrived, it is slowly getting dark earlier and Halloween is approaching, the pumpkins are available again at the greengrocer. The pumpkin is one of the main ingredients in this dish.
Ingredients (4 persons)

- 8 scallops (out of the shell)
- 1/2 pumpkin
- 2 squeezed oranges
- 1,5 cm ginger
- 100 gr. olives
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tbsp. Capers
- Olive oil
- Thyme
- 1 shallot
- chives
- coriander
Prepare
Peel the pumpkin and cut it into pieces. Peel the ginger and cut it into fine pieces. Bring the orange juice with the pumpkin and ginger to a boil and cook the pumpkin until tender.

Puree the pumpkin with the orange juice in the food processor. Add salt and pepper if needed and set aside.

Puree the olives with the thyme, garlic, capers and olive oil using a hand blender. A tapenade will form.


Cut the shallot very finely, finely chop the chives and coriander and mix these 3 together.
Carefully pat the scallop meat dry and fry it in butter with some olive oil. 2 minutes per side is sufficient. The scallop can still be raw inside.

Spoon the pumpkin cream on the preheated plates and put some tapenade on the pumpkin cream. Add the scallops. Sprinkle a little coriander/chives/shallot over the whole.

In the picture you can see that I served a fennel salad with this. This is not necessary. I had cut fennel with a mandolin and made it with a dressing of peanut oil, nut oil, Dijon mustard and vinegar.
Serve with a pinot gris.