ROASTED PUMPKIN WITH SPICES, SEEDS & NUTS

This dish was inspired from a breakfast I recently ate at my local, the Corner Store Café on Sylan Rd in Toowong. I was enjoying a lazy Friday morning breakfast with my boyfriend at the café and decided to try ‘West Coast Toast’ as I had never seen it on the menu before. It was a combination of roasted pumpkin, chickpeas, silvered almonds, baby spinach, pine nuts, cucumber, red onion and feta, served atop toasted Turkish bread with a side of avocado and sea salt.

Delectable.

Now, I decided to replicate this meal at 8pm on Saturday night for dinner. Without feta, baby spinach, silvered almonds or a ripe enough avocado to use, I soldiered along, doing the best I could with the ingredients I had on hand. Whilst I’d be lying if I said that my attempt was as good as the Corner Store’s, I quite enjoyed my prototype. 

INGREDIENTS

• 500g pumpkin, cut into small chunks 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 2 tablespoons dukkah 
• 40g red onion, finely chopped
• a pinch of sea salt 
• 1 x 400g tin of chick peas, rinsed & drained
• 50g haloumi, cut into 1cm x 1cm pieces
• 100g cucumber, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius fan-forced. 

2. Combine pumpkin, olive oil, pine nuts,  pepitas, dukkah, red onion, haloumi and sea salt in a small, shallow oven tray and toss well to coat. Roast in oven for 25- 30 minutes or until haloumi is melting and pumpkin is tender (that is, you can stick a fork through the pumpkin pieces easily). 

3. Place pumpkin in a medium to large serving bowl. Add cucumber, chives and chickpeas and toss well to combine. Serve as a side or a main meal. 

Serves 2-3 as a main meal & 4-6 as a side 

x E

West Coast Toast from the Corner Store Cafe