Soul warming roast buttercup pumpkin flavoured with rosemary, orange and chilli, served with a creamy orange infused coconut yoghurt and tahini sauce.
It's winter in my part of the world. Trees are bare and foggy, frosty mornings are here. I have a special love for the fog, there's something about its quiet blanket on the world that creates quite a mood.
I of course find myself looking for cosy and soul warming food at this time of the year. Roast vegetables are so easy to centre a winter meal around, and I'm a firm believer there's almost no vegetable not improved by a few charred edges.
Roast buttercup pumpkin
This recipe is a new favourite and a nice way to change up roast pumpkin. I used buttercup pumpkin (also known as buttercup or kabocha squash). They're small, with dark green skin and a bright orange, firm fleshed inner.
The smaller size of a buttercup is just perfect to create a family sized meal, without an enormous chunk of pumpkin left lurking in the fridge, wondering what its future will be.
What makes this recipe so great
Good question. Anyone can chuck some pumpkin in the oven and get an okay result, right? But why have okay when you can have great?
A few extra flavourings make all the difference to roast vegetables that keep you coming back for more.
This roast buttercup pumpkin is:
- coated with a mixture of olive oil, rosemary, orange juice and zest, chilli and garlic
- roasted in a hot oven to create dark caramelised edges and crispy skin
- served with a creamy, tangy yoghurt and tahini sauce.
These complementary extra flavours elevate the pumpkin to something sweet, toasty and lip-smackingly good, without tasting strongly of any one addition. It's quite simply delicious.
Serving ideas
These crispy wedges of pumpkin are quite moreish all by themselves (I'm definitely guilty of picking at one or three of these before dinner is served). But I'm sure most of you would prefer to serve them as a side dish to a main meal.
Try serving this roast pumpkin alongside:
- Lentil and walnut 'meatloaf'
- Little lentil loaf with mushrooms and sage
- French-style lentils
- Mushroom, onion and lentil pie
- Creamy spinach and artichoke borek
INGREDIENTS
For the roast pumpkin:
- 1 butternut pumpkin (kabocha squash)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic finely grated
- 1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
- 1-2 red chillis deseeded and finely chopped
- Zest of one orange
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- Salt and pepper
For the yoghurt tahini sauce:
- ¼ cup coconut yoghurt
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- Pinch salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F).
- Wash buttercup pumpkin, cut in half and remove seeds, then slice into even sized wedges. Arrange on an oven tray.
- In a small dish, mix together olive oil, garlic, rosemary, chilli, orange zest and juice. Pour over the pumpkin, then use your hands to rub the mixture over all surfaces. Season with salt and a good grind of black pepper.
- Roast pumpkin for approximately 30 minutes (turn after 20 minutes), until the flesh is tender and the skin and edges are caramelised.
- For the sauce, stir all ingredients together until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Serve roast pumpkin hot from the oven, with a dollop of yoghurt tahini sauce.
RECIPE NOTES
- Nutrition information estimate based on six servings.
- Adjust quantity of chilli to suit your taste - one chilli provides a warm hum, two chillis will kick it up a notch.
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