Roast Pumpkin with Harissa

I am trying to fall in love again.

In love with food and the idea of creating something delicious that I would not just want to feed but also cook for myself. Because somewhere down the line while trying to balance a full-time job, a cooking business, and life, I have lost that excitement for cooking.  There used to be a time when I could look up recipes add my take on it and come up with something that is mine. But I can no longer be bothered.

And this year, I want to be bothered.

I want to care about the ingredients I buy, the cuisines I want to learn, the food I want to put together, and what I want to eat myself and serve others. I want to be thoughtful about everything including food and with that realization, I am trying to put my creative hat on and start cooking for myself again.

So, for dinner tonight on my plate there is ‘Roast Pumpkin with Harissa on cashew, yogurt, & dill mash’. Sounds like a mouthful. The sweet and spicy flavors of the Harissa worked perfectly with the smokiness of the Pumpkin and the dill and yogurt-based mash balanced the flavours well.

A meal that required minimum ingredients and very little time in the kitchen but felt like a small win. If you don’t want to go through the effort of making your own Harissa, which BTW, in my opinion, you totally should because it is such a fabulous sauce/marinade/dip to keep in your pantry, feel free to just buy a ready-made jar from your favorite grocery store.

It made me happy, and I felt loved and hugged and cared for, even if it was me who was doing all of the above.

Recipe:

• 1 Pumpkin sliced

• Store-bought Harrisa Paste

• 1 cup cashews soaked in hot water

• 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar

• 1 cup Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt

• Chopped Dill

• Salt & Pepper to taste

• Olive oil to drizzle

• Almond flakes to garnish

Method:

1. Place the Pumpkin steaks (do not remove the skin) in a baking tray and smear it with the Harrisa paste. Drizzle with a little Olive oil and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C till baked.

2. Drain the water from the cashews, and add them in a grinder along with the vinegar, yogurt, and dill, and make a chunky paste. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

3. Put the paste on a plate and gently place the smoky pumpkin on it, garnish with Almond flakes and some more chopped dill, and enjoy.