HONEY & THYME ROAST PUMPKIN WITH GARLIC LABNEH & CURRIED PUMPKIN SEEDS
SERVES 4 TO 6 / PREPARATION 25 MINUTES PLUS OVERNIGHT DRAINING / COOKING 1 HOUR
FOR THE CURRIED PUMPKIN SEEDS
1 cup pumpkin seeds, scooped from the pumpkin, picked free of the stringy membrane, washed, and dried on a paper towel 60ml canola oil, or any neutral-flavoured oil 1 head garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
Heat the oven to 160 ℃. Line a roasting tin with baking paper. Put all the ingredients in a bowl, toss well. Spread the seeds evenly on the roasting tray and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and delicious. Drain off the excess oil into a bottle and pop both the oil and seeds aside for dressing the roast pumpkin.
ROAST PUMPKIN WITH LABNEH, THYME & HONEY 400g Greek yoghurt
1 Crown pumpkin, cut in half crosswise,
seeds scooped out and reserved
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons runny honey
1 tablespoon thyme, fresh or dried
4-5 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, finely grated curry oil, to serve curried pumpkin seeds, to serve
1 bunch flat-leaved parsley, to serve
Begin a day ahead by starting the labneh. Put the yoghurt in a muslin-lined sieve over a bowl. Leave overnight.
Heat the oven to 200℃. Line a flat roasting tray with baking paper. Place the cut pumpkin on the roasting tray, skin-side down. Using the tip of the knife, score the pumpkin flesh like a Christmas ham.
Put the olive oil, honey and some salt and pepper in a bowl, then give it a good whisk to emulsify the ingredients. Drizzle the mixture over the scored pumpkin, then sprinkle over the thyme and rip over the bay leaves. Bake the pumpkin for about 20-30 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Put the drained yoghurt in a bowl and fold in the grated garlic and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper (going forward you could add purées such as beetroot to make a beet labneh or even add honey and cinnamon to the drained yoghurt for a sweet version). Smooth most of the labneh onto a platter, reserving a few spoonfuls.
When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, tear into big chunks and put them onto the platter. Spoon over the remaining labneh. Drizzle with curry oil and sprinkle over the roasted pumpkin seeds. Rip the parsley leaves and dot them over the pumpkin.
Pumpkins have always been quite polarising for me; growing up in the UK we used to get one once a year during Halloween, carve it out and that was that. Pretty wasteful, right! It was only when I came to New Zealand that I started to eat and appreciate these curious-looking cucurbitaceae. This recipe uses all of the pumpkin including the seeds. So, this is my vegetable homage to nose-to-tail but more like seed-to-stalk. Serve this next time at a potluck dinner or when you’ve got a crowd over. Zero fuss and zero waste, and you can be proud that you’ve not thrown any part of the pumpkin in the bin… go you!
We receive a lot – and I mean a lot – of bananas at Everybody Eats. I’m not going to lie: my banana recipe repertoire is not as large as I thought it was. When I talk about banana bread, I sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump: you can have banana bread with chocolate ganache, with peanut whip, toasted with rhubarb and so on. Recently I made friends with an amazing pastry chef from Canada who came and volunteered for a few nights at the restaurant. She taught me the reverse creaming method (or in her words, the lazy bitch method!). I love it, it’s been a real game changer and produces an even and consistent bake.