Out the back of our kitchen gardens is a little shed ( we call it the kiosk ) and in that shed we have a pile of beautiful Queensland Blue Pumpkins. Those pumpkins are currently sitting upside down on a shelf just slowly ageing, developing a sweeter and firmer flesh.
And so now is as good a time as any, to bring you a great little winter salad, with pumpkin and winter greens as the stars of the show.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pumpkin
- 2 tbsp oil
- Seasalt
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
- A good bunch of winter greens (Kale, rainbow chard ect)
- 1 cup feta crumbled
- 1 batch spent lemon dressing
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
Cover a roasting tray in greaseproof paper.
Halve the pumpkin and quarter, remove the seeds and wedge. Coat your wedges in the oil and season with sea salt. Lay onto the tray and roast in the oven until tender and lightly crispy on the tips.
Whilst the pumpkin is cooking make up your shallot jam and lemon dressing.
Spent Lemon Dressing
- 3 lemons, juiced and smashed
- 350 ml grape seed oil
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- pinch of salt
Place all of the lemon (juice, flesh and rind) into a pot with your oil and gently heat over a low flame for a couple of minutes ( making sure the temperature of the oil does not go above 60*C) Turn off and allow to cool before straining. Making sure to get all that juice from the lemons before discarding.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, vinegar, honey, Dijon and salt. Slowly add the oil and whisk thoroughly in between additions until a mayonnaise forms. This is your spent lemon dressing
Shallot Jam
- 8 shallots, finely sliced lengthways
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- pinch salt
For the shallot jam, combine all the jam ingredients in a pot and place onto a low flame. Bring to the boil and then simmer until thick and syrupy. This will take about 20 minutes. Make sure to check on it regularly and stir to prevent sticking.
When you are ready to serve, heat a frypan, adding a touch of oil then drop in your winter greens, sauté quickly, season and cook until just wilted. Arrange your pumpkin on a platter and top with your roasted pumpkin seeds, feta, shallot jam, wilted winter greens and finally your spent lemon dressing.