An easy recipe for savoury baked pumpkin, seasoned with olive oil, garlic, and chilli powder.
It’s such a wonderful side dish. Oven-roasting is one of my favourite ways to make this tasty winter squash!
When you think about pumpkin, do you only think about pumpkin pie? If so, you’re missing out! Pumpkin can take on either sweet or savoury flavours, and it makes a wonderful, hearty, and satisfying savoury side dish, perfect for fall and winter.
I actually think I like savoury pumpkin dishes better than I like sweet ones. I love chocolate and cheesecake desserts much more than pumpkin desserts. But savoury pumpkin dishes are amazing.
INGREDIENTS
You’ll only need FIVE simple ingredients to roast a pumpkin! The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here’s an overview of what you’ll need:
Sugar pumpkin: Small pumpkins are more flavorful. They do vary in size, from 2 lb. to 5 lb., but whatever their size, as long as they are marked as “sugar pumpkin” or “sugar pie pumpkin,” that’s what you need.
Olive oil: I love cooking with this delicious oil. Melted butter is another tasty option.
Seasonings: I use kosher salt, chilli powder, and garlic powder. In this particular recipe, I prefer garlic powder to minced fresh garlic, because it more evenly coats the pumpkin.
INSTRUCTIONS
So how do you roast pumpkin? In this easy recipe, the pumpkin is seasoned with olive oil, garlic, and chilli powder. Then it’s baked in a hot oven until tender. This flavour combination is phenomenal!
Please scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:
Your first step is to slightly soften the pumpkin in the microwave, then carefully cut it in half and remove the pulp and seeds.
Next, you cut each pumpkin half into four 1-inch-thick moon-shaped slices. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the skin off. Cut the peeled pumpkin slices into cubes.
Place the pumpkin cubes in a large bowl and coat them with olive oil and spices.
Transfer the seasoned pumpkin pieces to a parchment-paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast them until fork-tender, about 30 minutes at 425°F, tossing them halfway through.
AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD
Another option, shown in the video below, is to skip the peeling, slicing and cubing. Simply cut the pumpkin in half, remove the pulp and seeds, and place it cut-side-down on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
As before, cook the pumpkin until fork-tender, about 30 minutes at 425°F. The result is not so much a side dish as a cooked pumpkin that you can then use in other recipes.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Anything goes with this side dish. It’s as versatile as potatoes. Since I cook the pumpkin in a 425°F oven, I do like to serve it with the main dish that I can cook in the same oven.
source – cooking365coza
