I haven't had a dud pumpkin this whole year. A while back, I had to stop buying them because every second one was watery and tasteless. This was the time I got heavily into purple sweet potatoes and would use them to make this dish. It is really better suited to pumpkin, however, as it is a less carby accompaniment to the pasta. This is a simple meal to prepare and quite attractive with its contrasting colours. The combination of flavours and textures, sweet pumpkin, salty olives and creamy goats cheese and crunchy almonds make it exceptionally tasty.
Ingredients:
1/2 (600g) pumpkin (i used jap)
extra virgin olive oil
20 black olives, pitted
fresh thyme
2 handfuls greens, baby spinach, beetroot leaves, warrigal greens
half cup of slivered almonds
120g goats curd or chevre
350g good quality dried papperdelle
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200*C. Dry roast the almonds in a hot pan until golden, set aside. Chop the pumpkin into 2cm by 2cm chunks, rum with olive oil and bake for 30-40 minutes, until tender and caramelised. Half way through the cooking time, add the olives and picked time. Wash greens thoroughly and dry. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil for the pasta, add a teaspoon or so of sea salt and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, and return the pasta to the pot. Add a dash of olive oil and the greens, stir to wilt. Add half the pumpkin and olives to the pasta and combine. Distribute pasta among four serving plates. Top with the remaining pumpkin, a dollop of goats cheese and scatter with slivered almonds. Serve immediately.
Serves Four.
Recipe adapted from Maggie Beer on the Cook and the Chef.
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