Remember that Cadbury Favourites ad where a family has been invited to a friends place for a barbie? They run in to their host at the supermarket and are told “not to bring a thing”.
It’s a stroke of genius. Of course there’s nothing wrong with turning up to someone’s house with a box of choccies in hand, but if you want to go that extra mile, why not offer to bring this delicious roast pumpkin with walnuts. It’s easy to make and goes all too well at a barbecue along with some grilled meat and salad. I’m always looking for some new inspiration when it comes to salads and veggie dishes when we have friends over.
Made using minimal ingredients, all you need is pumpkin, a handful of walnuts and some maple syrup, a drizzle of olive oil and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. It’s literally prepared in minutes and then the oven does all the work. The pumpkin roasted this way becomes incredibly tender and with the addition of the maple syrup, it caramelises it beautifully.
This side dish also goes well as part of a roast dinner or you can cut the pumpkin up into smaller pieces and toss through a salad with some baby spinach and feta cheese. It’s versatile, very affordable and most importantly, super tasty. The perfect combination.
This photo above shows how differently my oven seems to cook things. The tray on the left was on the top shelf of my oven and the tray on the right was on the bottom. I show you this just so you know that it’s hard to say exactly how long it will take to roast, depending on your oven. Just keep an eye on it and it’s cooked once the pumpkin is completely cooked through and nicely caramelised.
This spread was made for our recent Anzac Day barbie at our place. The pumpkin went well with a potato bake, a simple Greek salad and some grilled marinated chicken thighs (recipe to come).
Something tells me that the advertising company would have a harder time coming up with a clever ad to convince the public to roast some pumpkin as an alternative to throwing some chocolates in your trolley.
But I know your host will love you for it.
maple glazed roast pumpkin with walnuts
This pumpkin dish goes brilliantly served alongside some barbecued meat, a potato bake and simple green salad.
A note on the cooking time: all ovens cook differently and depending on the thickness and size of your pumpkin pieces, you’ll notice that the cooking time can vary. In the photo above – you’ll see that I roasted the pumpkin in two oven trays, on two different shelves in my oven. The tray on the left was on the top shelf and it cooked a lot slower than the tray on the right that was on the bottom shelf. Just keep an eye on it and it’s ready once the pumpkin is lovely and soft and nicely caramelised.
This recipe makes enough for 6-8 adults as a side dish
1/2 a Kent pumpkin, cut in to slices (you can also use Butternut pumpkin and feel free to remove the skin and cut in to smaller chunks if you prefer)
A good drizzle of olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
A good drizzle of maple syrup
A handful of walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ and line two large baking dishes with baking paper.
- Arrange the pumpkin pieces in a single layer and drizzle well with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Throw in the oven to roast for approximately 20 minutes.
- Take out of the oven, flip the pumpkin over, drizzle with maple syrup and scatter the walnuts over top. Add a little more olive oil and salt and pepper on that side and roast again until caramelised nicely.
lo's kitchen 