Nici Wickes: Roast Pumpkin with sunflower cream

This dish magically transforms pumpkin from side dish to star performer and I can’t get enough of it. 

Serves 2-4 

 

Ingredients

750g crown pumpkin (can use butternut), cut into wedges, skin on 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses 

1 teaspoon smoked paprika 

½ teaspoon sea salt 

4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds 

Handful parsley, chopped 

 

Sunflower cream 

½ cup sunflower seeds 

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

1 tablespoons tahini 

¼ cup olive oil 

½ teaspoon sea salt 

 

Method

1. Heat oven to 180 C. Line a tray with baking paper.
2. Mix oil, pomegranate molasses and paprika and rub/brush this all over the pumpkin. Lay out on prepared tray, sprinkle with salt and roast for 45 minutes or until pumpkin is soft and cooked through. You can cook the pumpkin for longer and it will only intensify the flavour. Toss in the pumpkin seeds in the final 5-10 minutes and they will toast and puff up.
3. To make the sunflower cream, cover sunflower seeds with warm water and soak for at least 1 hour. Drain. Blitz drained seeds with remaining ingredients in a blender until it is smooth and creamy. Add water if needed to get a creamy consistency. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon juice and/or salt to taste.
4. Serve warm pumpkin drizzled with sunflower cream and scattered with parsley and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Nici’s note: Use kumara or cauliflower in place of pumpkin if you like. 

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