Name: Warm honey-roasted pumpkin, rocket and cracked wheat salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: ¾ cup cracked wheat; ½ tsp vegetable stock powder; 1kg japanese pumpkin, seeded, unpeeled, cut into 5cm pieces; 1 Tbsp honey; 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil; Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season; 2 small red onions, sliced into thin wedges; 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar; ½ tsp caster sugar; ½ tsp sea-salt flakes; 60g baby rocket leaves; 115g goat’s cheese, roughly crumbled; 2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted; 2 Tbsp pepitas; 2 Tbsp basil leaves

This warm honey-roasted pumpkin in a salad is the perfect way to embrace rainy weather without giving up hope on summer!

And, we bet you can’t resist trying this sticky pumpkin straight from the oven tray. Wait ’til it’s cool, though!

Note: in addition to the 10 minutes preparation time listed above, you will also need to let your cracked wheat infuse for 15 minutes.

Ingredients

¾ cup cracked wheat

½ tsp vegetable stock powder

1kg japanese pumpkin, seeded, unpeeled, cut into 5cm pieces

1 Tbsp honey

4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season

2 small red onions, sliced into thin wedges

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

½ tsp caster sugar

½ tsp sea-salt flakes

60g baby rocket leaves

115g goat’s cheese, roughly crumbled

2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted

2 Tbsp pepitas

2 Tbsp basil leaves

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Put cracked wheat and stock powder into a large bowl. Pour over enough boiling water to cover cracked wheat by 1.5cm. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 20 minutes. Then fluff with a fork and set aside.

Meanwhile, put pumpkin, honey and 2 Tbsp of the oil in a large bowl, then toss to coat. Season. Arrange on prepared trays in a single layer. Roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and arrange red onion wedges in the gaps. Return to the oven and roast for a further 15 minutes or until pumpkin and onion are tender.

Transfer onion to a medium bowl and set pumpkin aside on trays to cool completely.

To onion bowl, add vinegar, caster sugar and sea-salt flakes and toss well. Set aside for 15 minutes to allow flavours to infuse.

Put cooled cracked wheat and rocket into a large bowl and toss well. Arrange on a serving platter and top with pumpkin and onion, reserving onion bowl juices. Scatter goat’s cheese, pine nuts, pepitas and basil leaves over salad.

To bowl juices, add remaining oil and whisk until combined. Drizzle a little dressing over the salad. Serve with remaining dressing on the side.

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