My children are about ready to revolt. But I cannot stop eating its golden sweet flesh. Roasted with red onions and a little allspice is possibly my favourite Autumn 2015 side dish, and as a bonus it leaves the house reeking of festive spirit.
This side dish is our addition to this year’s Thanksgiving feast. Ideal, as I can make it a few hours before the guests arrive, and leave it at room temperature, while I get on with the rest of the meal. Of course, if you are more organised than me, you can make it and serve it warm, but those precious hours before dinner here is more than a little frantic, so I make it ahead to avoid any additional panic before the guests walk through the door.
Please see here for my complete Thanksgiving menu this year.
I would love to hear what you make for your festive feasts. Please leave a comment at the end as I am sure they will inspire me and others in their future menu planning.
To all who are celebrating, Happy Thanksgiving!
When not serving this on Thanksgiving, I like to serve it with tahini sauce a la Ottolenghi
Roasted Pumpkin with Kale
- 1/2 Blue Hubbard / Jarrahdale pumpkin are my favourite (or 1 med butternut squash)
- 2 med red onions cut into 6 – 8 wedges each depending on their size
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- salt and pepper
- 300g Kale / Cavolo Nero
- 50g marcona almonds
- a handful of parsley for garnish
Preheat the oven to 200C (400F)
Peel and cut the pumpkin into wedges and arrange on a shallow sided baking sheet with the onions
Drizzle a good glug of olive oil over the top, and mix with allspice, salt and pepper. Roast for 30-45 minutes, turning half way through until they are caramelised.
While the pumpkin and onions are roasting, strip the leaves from the tough centre ribs of the kale. Blanch the leaves in boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes until they are cooked through but still bright green.
Drain and squeeze out all the excess water and arrange the leaves on the bottom of a shallow dish, drizzled with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. You may want to tear them up slightly.
When the pumpkin is cooked through, remove from the oven and allow to cool slighty. Arrange over the steamed kale and sprinkle over the marcona almonds and parsley.
This will sit happily at room temperature for a few hours while you faff with the rest of the meal.
Enjoy!
Have you made this dish?
Let me know what you think, share your efforts and any tweaks you made to the recipe on Instagram, don’t forget to tag #BuildingFeasts or email me on info@buildingfeasts.com
