Sweet & Savory Roast Pumpkin
Thanksgiving is all about tradition in our house. My family has been making the same dishes over and over for as long as I can remember. While there is some serious comfort knowing that when I sit down at the table, roast turkey with lumpy gravy and my grandmothers stuffing will be gracing the table, sometimes I crave something different. I’d love to try a new stuffing recipe or put brown butter in my mashed potatoes. But in the end, new ideas are tossed aside and we go with our reliable family recipes.
One of the many perks of food blogging (besides all the amazing friends I’ve made and getting payed to do something I love), is creating recipes around the season or holiday even if they don’t end up gracing my table on the big day. I realized last week that even though this roast pumpkin is most likely not going to be on my Thanksgiving menu, it doesn’t mean it can’t be on yours. It’s good enough that I’m excited to share it with you and just because it’s not on our family’s short list of Thanksgiving recipes, doesn’t mean that I won’t make it time and time again during the season. Case in point, I had my parents over a little mock Thanksgiving dinner last night and I tested out a few new recipes that I”m excited to share this week. This roast pumpkin was a huge hit. It’s savory and sweet with the perfect amount of spice. It was the perfect side dish to my roast turkey breast and quick gravy. My mom and I gobbled (pun intended) up quickly and I have just enough leftover that I think I’m going to use in tacos tonight!
In the end, I think I like the thought of new recipes more than I actually like the idea. I’d be amiss if we were missing the overly sweet smashed yam with broiled marshmallows and some sort of white, buttery roll to sop up those last few bites of mashed up goodness. Thanksgiving is about the food, yes, but for me the tradition and family that come along are what makes it such an amazing holiday. Lumpy gravy and all.
Have a great monday, everyone!
PrintSweet & Savory Roast Pumpkin
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 small sugar pumpkin
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- healthy pinch kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400F degrees.
- Cut pumpkin in half using a sharp chef’s knife. Use a metal spoon to scoop out the seeds and insides of the pumpkin; discard or save seeds for roasting. Cut the pumpkin into slices about 3/4-inch thick.
- Place pumpkin slices in a large bowl and toss with olive oil and spice so each piece is covered evenly. Place pumpkin flesh side down on baking sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes, depending on thickness of pumpkin slices until pumpkin is tender.
- Remove pumpkin from oven, transfer to plate and drizzle with a few tablespoons of honey and garnish with chopped chives if desired.
6 Comments
i agree, it’s the tradition behind the food things that we eat that makes it so worth it! and even if you don’t serve this delicious pumpkin on the big day, it’s definitely a delicious dish that i’d love pretty much any day of the year 😉
I love that it’s a mix of sweet and savory! And it’s beautiful!
“creating recipes around the season or holiday even if they don’t end up gracing my table on the big day.” – agreed! And even if I don’t eat it all on the Day Of or on The Big Day, I’ve had 2-3 months of preamble leading up to it, where I can try all these great dishes!
Thanks, Averie!
I am in love with roasted squash, but why the heck haven’t I ever done a pumpkin (yes, I realize it’s like the same)?Cannot wait to try this!
When is the brown sugar used? With the spices? It does sound good if I can find a pie pumpkin.
Yes! Mix the brown sugar in when you mix the spices. You could also use any kind of winter squash.