Charred pumpkin with wattle seed tahini, burghul and pomegranate

This has great flavour and texture, all brought together with a fantastic tahini and wattleseed dressing.

Charred pumpkin with wattle seed tahini, bulgur and pomegranate. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ¼ pumpkin, seeds removed
• 2 sprays canola oil spray
• Salt and pepper

Tahini

• 10 g roasted wattleseed
• 1 clove garlic
• Pinch salt
• 100 g tahini paste
• 10 ml sesame oil
• 40 ml ice-cold water
• 1 lemon, juiced

To serve

• 300 ml vegetable stock
• 200 g cracked burghul wheat (bulgur)
• 20 g roast almonds
• 10 g currents
• 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

To finish

1 pomegranate, seeded

Handful dill and parsley, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan forced).
2. Cut the pumpkin into 3 wedges, then cut each wedge into half. Spray pan and heat over high heat. Add pumpkin and leave to brown on each side before baking in the oven for 40 minutes, or until dark. Turn occasionally.
3. In the meantime, grind the wattleseed to a powder in a mortar and pestle then add the garlic clove and salt and break it down to a paste. Add the tahini, sesame oil and lemon juice and gradually add the ice-cold water. Keep mixing until nice and smooth. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
4. Bring stock up to the boil. Place the cracked burghul wheat in a bowl and pour boiling stock over the wheat. Stir quickly, place a lid on top and let sit for 5-10 minutes, or until the liquid has absorbed and the wheat has softened.
5. Take the lid off, add the roasted almonds and currents and mix together with the oil, salt and pepper to taste.
6. Place the burghul at the bottom of a large serving platter. Top with the pumpkin and the tahini dressing, pomegranate seeds and herbs.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.