Here’s a really effortless, great way to dress up roasted pumpkin to make a side dish that works just as well alongside grand roasts or a salad spread for lunch. Simply toss pumpkin with garlic then oven roast until golden, drizzle with yogurt lemon sauce and scatter with pine nuts. So easy yet so superb!
Roast Pumpkin with Yogurt Sauce and Pine Nuts on a plate, freshly made
Roasted Pumpkin Side Dish
The really good thing about this dish is its sheer simplicity, that it’s something a little different but the flavour has universal appeal.
I mean, roasted pumpkin is already a good thing. But you’ll love it even more with a creamy garlicky-lemony yogurt sauce casually drizzled over it.
Add pine nuts for texture a dash of of the exotic – and boom! People are always impressed. And then you can trot out that line we cooks love to casually say to guests, “Oh, it’s just a little something I threw together quickly……”
(Don’t tell me I’m the only one around here immature enough to still get a thrill out of saying that!)
Fork picking up piece of Roast Pumpkin with Yogurt Sauce and Pine Nuts
What you need for roasted pumpkin
Here’s what I use for the roasted pumpkin – salt, pepper, olive oil and garlic.
Oh – and yes, pumpkin. 😂 Any type that takes your fancy, including butternut (which is sometimes called “butternut squash”, but we just call it “butternut pumpkin” here Down Under). Sweet potato also works just as well – though perhaps an extra 5 minutes in the oven.
What you need for Roast Pumpkin
How I cut, peel & roast pumpkin
For those of you deterred by the thought of the effort of hacking through a giant pumpkin – my trick is to rock the knife up and down as you cut through through a big hunk of pumpkin. Your knife will slide through much more easily than trying to cut straight down.
And here’s how I cut it into cubes:
How to cut pumpkin
Cut into thick 3cm / 1.2″ slices;
Lay a slice on the side then cut the skin off;
Then for neat cubes, cut 3cm / 1.2″ thick slices AROUND the seeds. I find this method faster and cleaner than scraping with a spoon, though the trade off is that there is a bit of wastage – minimise this by cutting as close to the seeds as you can; then
Cut into cubes.
Roasting
