Roast Pumpkin with Pomegranate Syrup and Spiced Yoghurt

Happy New Year! I hope you had all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed the holidays.

For me, I managed to lose track of the days for a little while which is always a sign of a great holiday. Long summer afternoons were spent with family in NSW and included a very special and rare mulberry pie-making afternoon with my Grandma with berries she saved for me from earlier in the season. When I returned to Melbourne, I had a few more days of down time away from the computer and caught up on some DIY projects before returning to work.

The idea for this dish came from a visit to Kitchen By Mike in Sydney last year. If you’ve ever been, the daily selection of fresh salads and rustic style dishes will almost have your nose pressed up against the glass. Just as well you can have a bit of everything! The coffee is particularly great too as you enjoy the cavernous warehouse space and eye off a treasure trove of locally designed homewares.

This dish is quite versatile. Serve it hot or cold, as a side dish to roast lamb or as a vegetarian main if you like.

When it came to the yoghurt sauce, I was looking to replicate tahini. I had a play around with crushed roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and sunflower seeds to deliver a sweet nutty burst of flavour and then pared the greek yoghurt back with a squeeze of lime and some cracked pepper.

I was super happy with the result and discovered that if you make it the day before, the flavour really intensifies. The pomegranate syrup is also extra light with just a hint of sweetness and marries well with the pumpkin and tartness of the yoghurt.

Serve this gorgeous dish either at your next summer BBQ or cosy winter dinner (Northern Hemisphere).

Enjoy xo

Roast pumpkin with pomegranate syrup and spiced yoghurt

Serves 4

1 kg jap pumpkin sliced into wedges

1 tsp ground cumin

1 pomegranate

60ml water

2 tsp sugar

1 cup greek yoghurt

1 tsp fresh lime juice

1/3 cup roasted pepitas and sunflower seeds

1 cup fresh coriander chopped

Cracked pepper & salt

Olive oil spray

Method

1. Slice pumpkin into wedges, spray with olive oil and season with cumin and salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes at 180c.
2. Dry roast pepitas and sunflower seeds then process into a chunky crumb. Add to yoghurt with a squeeze of lime and cracked pepper.
3. To make syrup, scrape pomegranate seeds out into a saucepan and add sugar and water. Simmer on a low heat for a minute for two until sugar is dissolved and then set aside to cool.
4. Arrange pumpkin then drizzle with yoghurt, followed by pomegranate syrup and top with chopped coriander

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