Roast pumpkin and caramelised onion

I got this recipe from Lorraine Elliott, also known as, Not Quite Nigella (NQN).

Where has Yummy Lummy been lately?

Sorry dear readers for not posting much lately, life has been busy. Last week I had a personal project I wanted to focus on and complete.

Pumpkin

I’m very fond of roast pumpkin. It is sweet, and it readily takes on salt for the sweet and salty combination which goes so well together.

Good roast pumpkin gives me happy memories of Mum’s roast dinners with lovely caramelised pieces of roast pumpkin covered in the juices from the joint of meat or chicken she had been roasting. Mum managed to get that sweet and salty combination as well as some great mouthfeel with the black bits, which are the caramelised sugars from the pumpkin.

Lorraine suggests if cooking for a family a whole pumpkin makes sense and she provides some good tips on pumpkin preparation.

In my opinion, if you’re cooking for one, then maybe one of those convenient pre-cut packets of diced pumpkin from the supermarket will do.

I had to make a compromise because I like having a knife in my hand. It reminds me of when I was clerking in patients in the emergency department while a medical student. If the patient required surgery, we’d always say. “The touch and feel of cold hardened surgical steel.”

Green beans

I’m also cooking beans. I’m generally not too fond of beans because they feel squeaky on my teeth. I like the flavour, but like halloumi cheese, if I could avoid the squeaky feeling, I’d be happier.

My BFF (GC) mentioned that some olive oil and salt might make the beans more palatable. I gave it a go and GC is right. Tonight’s beans weren’t squeaky at all.

Ingredients

Roast pumpkin and caramelised onion

• Pumpkin pieces
• White onion
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Brown sugar
• Pecan nuts
• Iodised salt

Pork sausage

• Pork sausage

Green peas

• Green beans
• Salt
• Iodised rock salt
• Olive oil
• Black pepper

Instructions

Roast pumpkin and caramelised onion

1. Unwrap the pumpkin and place it on a plate.
2. Put the pumpkin and plate in the microwave oven and cook with microwave radiation on high power for between 2 and 3 minutes.
3. Remove the pumpkin and with a dessert (or tablespoon) spoon, scoop out the seeds and the stringy bits.
4. With a sharp knife, slice the pumpkin in 2 cm thick slices and then carefully cut off the pumpkin skin being careful not to cut your fingers.
5. With the skin removed, dice the pumpkin into bite-sized chunks (see the photograph).
6. With a sharp knife slice half a white onion and separate the layers.
7. Thinly slice a clove of garlic with a sharp knife or a mandolin.
8. Put a teaspoon of brown sugar into a dish and then cover with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Mix the brown sugar and olive oil with a fork.
9. In a large mixing bowl, add the pumpkin, onion, garlic, sugar and oil and with your hands gently massage the sugar and oil all over the pumpkin and onion pieces. Make sure you massage the sweet oil to cover everything.
10. Spread the sweet and oily pumpkin, onion and garlic on a baking sheet and season with some iodised salt and then put the tray into a hot oven. Initially cook for about 10 minutes and turn over the pumpkin on the tray. Then take a look every minute or so until the pumpkin and onion have taken on some colour. I like some black bits. It won’t be burnt, but it will be a bit crunchy.
11. On another lined baking sheet spread out some pecan nuts and toast them in a moderate oven for anywhere between 5 and 7 minutes. Carefully monitor the pecan nuts because they will burn quickly. You don’t want to burn your nuts, they will taste bitter and yucky.
12. When the nuts have toasted remove them from the oven and allow them to cool and then split them in half lengthways.
13. When the pumpkin and onion have caramelised, remove them from the oven and put them into a large mixing bowl and just before serving toss through the pecan nuts.
14. At this stage, you could also add some chopped parsley for colour.

Pork sausage

1. Remove a pork sausage from it’s packaging and when you’re putting the pumpkin and onion in the oven, add the sausage to the baking tray and cook it along with the pumpkin and onion.

Green beans

1. Add some cooking salt to some water in a saucepan and bring the water to a rolling boil.
2. Remove the green beans from the bag and add them to the boiling water.
3. Cook the beans for 6 minutes.
4. Drain the beans once cooked and then put them into a mixing bowl.
5. Splash in some olive oil and iodised rock salt and mix everything together.

Plating up

1. On a warmed dinner plate spoon the pumpkin and onion to the plate.
2. Place the sausage next to the pumpkin and onion.
3. Place the oily beans onto some absorbent kitchen paper to remove some of the oil and then transfer the beans to the dinner plate.

How was it?

I really enjoyed this meal. It was easy to make and it was tasty. While the pumpkin and onion where the main feature, I was very pleasantly surprised to enjoy the green beans and not experience any chalky squeaky feels on my teeth. Thanks, GC, you’re a genius.

Dessert

For dessert I had some natural (no added sugar) yoghurt with two of my favourite fruits, viz., Kensington pride mango and red pawpaw.

What else is happening in life?

Last week I was a little out of sorts but praise God, life is going well at the moment. Work is going well. My health is fine.