A whole roasted pumpkin is not only so easy to cook but is also incredibly gorgeous aesthetically when presented on the dinner table. Serve up with a sumac yoghurt condiment for the perfect companion.
Make some deep incisions on the underside of the black forest pumpkin so that the juices have somewhere to go.
Coat with olive oil.
Place pumpkin on a wire rack with a roasting pan underneath to catch the juices. Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 200°C or 400°F.
Roughly chop the pistachios.
Mix the Greek yoghurt with some sumac. Place in a jar or bowl and add pistachios.
When the pumpkin is done, remove and place on a wooden board and cut into wedges.
Serve with yoghurt on the side.
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Notes
Any small heirloom pumpkin would work well for this recipe. If you can’t find heirloom pumpkins, you can just roast half or quarter of a regular pumpkin or even butternut squash.
As you grab a wedge of the pumpkin, scrape off the seeds and remove the skin before eating.
You can use any nut for the yoghurt condiment. All we want is some crunch. Macadamias, almonds, hazelnut or Brazil nuts would work well.
Don’t mix the nuts in with the yoghurt as otherwise, you won’t see it. If using a jar, add some yoghurt mixture and then the roughly chopped nuts on the side. Top up with more yoghurt and repeat until the jar is full. That way, you’ll see the nuts on the side inside of an all-white lumpy concoction.
Serve this side dish hot. Nothing quite as satisfying as when you cut a wedge of pumpkin on the dinner table and the steam rises.
If you can’t find sumac or don’t wish to get it just for this one use, you can make your own substitute by mixing 1 tbsp of lemon zest with 1 tsp pepper and 1 tsp salt. This will give the recipe the acidity it needs.
Substitute Greek yoghurt with dairy free coconut yoghurt for a dairy free recipe. The flavours of the coconut would still work well with this pumpkin side dish.