serves 6

½ small Kent pumpkin, cut into 6 wedges
2 cups white sugar
4 tbsp balsamic reduction

for pepita crunch
1 cup pepitas
1 cup chopped walnuts
⅓ cup chia seeds
¼ cup maple syrup

for tahini cream
250g double cream
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp honey

You might like

Recipes

Tommy ruff fish fingers

Recipes

Spinach pillow

Place the pumpkin wedges on a baking dish and sprinkle over the sugar to coat. Cover and set aside at room temperature overnight, spooning over the emerging syrup once or twice. The following day, preheat the oven to 180C, uncover the pumpkin and bake for one hour, basting with the syrup every 20 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

For pepita crunch, combine the ingredients with a cup of water in a medium bowl, stir well and set aside for 20 minutes to allow the chia seeds to form a gel. Roll the mix thinly between two sheets of baking paper, transfer to a baking tray, remove the top layer of baking paper and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until crisp. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the cream, tahini and honey until thick.

To serve, place a wedge of pumpkin onto a plate and drizzle with a little syrup. Add a dollop of tahini cream, scatter with pieces of pepita crunch and drizzle with a little balsamic reduction.

* Here are Natalie Homan’s tips to the best-ever puree:

It is important the pumpkin puree is as dry as possible. This is best achieved by roasting in a 190C oven, lightly coated in oil, until tender. Blend until smooth then place the puree in a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Fold over excess cheesecloth to cover the puree, place a small plate and a weight on top (for example tinned tomatoes). Place in the refrigerator overnight. The amount of liquid extruded will vary (especially between varieties) but as a general rule 1kg of pumpkin will yield 2 cups of puree (I used Kent pumpkin for all the following recipes).

This recipe first appeared in the May 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.