Spicy Roasted Butternut Pumpkin

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead.
Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.

What can I say? Pieces of pumpkin that look like witches shoes makes me want to sing.



Spicy Roasted Butternut Pumpkin
slightly adapted from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef
Serves 4

1/2 butternut pumpkin, seeds removed
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
1 dried chilli, finely crumbled
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Cut the pumpkin into witches shoes (see above). I leave the skin on, because it goes nutty and chewy. If you don't like the skin, cut it off. Pop them in a baking tray.

Put all the herbs, spices and seasonings in a small bowl. Add the garlic and oil. Mix until you have a mixture that resembles wet sand.

Sprinkle the herb mixture over the pumpkin and give everything a good toss and rub. Make sure each piece gets a healthy dose of the rub. Line the pumpkin pieces up, skin-side-down in the baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes, until the pumpkin is soft and tinged golden at the edges.

Use it as a side dish to roasted meats. Top a pie crust with it along with some feta and bake until it's all hot and crisp. Throw it in a salad with some mixed greens, blue cheese and toasted pecans and dress it all with a lemony vinaigrette. Make risotto with it. Stuff it in ravioli with some ricotta. Blitz it in the blender and add chicken stock to make a delicious soup...