Spiced Roast Pumpkin or Squash

A beautiful side dish to accompany many autumnal main courses. Or the roasted Pumpkin or squash flesh can be tossed through cooked grains to make a salad or mashed with a fork and used as a filling for ravioli.

• Prep: 10 mins 

• Cook: 45 mins 

• Serves: 4–6 

Ingredients:

• 1 small pumpkin or squash 1 orange 

• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds 

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon Madras curry powder 

• 2 pinches of sea salt flakes 

• 3 star anise 

• 2 cinnamon sticks (optional) 2 sage sprigs (optional) 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3½. 

2. Halve the pumpkin or squash, and remove the seeds with a spoon. Then chop the pumpkin or squash into eight to twelve wedges depending on size. (The skin may be left on or sliced off, and for some small squashes the skin can be eaten once roasted.) 

3. Peel the zest and juice the orange. And lightly crush the coriander seeds. 

4. Place the pumpkin pieces in a roasting tin (or on a baking tray) and drizzle with the oil. Sprinkle over the curry powder and lightly crushed coriander seeds and the salt. Lay the star anise in the tin and add the orange zest and juice. If using cinnamon sticks, add these too. Toss well. 

5. Roast for 45 minutes, turning the pumpkin pieces occasionally, until they are golden and the flesh is soft. If using sage, coarsely chop the leaves and add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking. 

Serve while hot in the skin or, if you prefer, scoop the flesh from the peel. 

Recipes extracted from Simply Raymond Kitchen Garden by Raymond Blanc (Headline Home, £26)