My family has been making this pumpkin salad for as long as I can remember, it’s a firm favourite. It’s a great winter salad, but works just as well in the warmer months as well.
This pumpkin salad appears so often at our family gatherings that I almost feel it’s a family member. It’s almost assumed that someone will make it, and we take turns in bringing it to whatever Christmas/Easter/Birthday celebration we’ve got going on. Everyone makes it a little differently, sometimes someone might add cherry tomatoes, and others might swap out the goat cheese for feta. Anything goes.
How to make roast pumpkin salad
This pumpkin salad is so easy to make, the hardest part is roasting the pumpkin and I wouldn’t even call it hard! I generally grab whatever pumpkin I can get from the Farmer’s Markets, which seems to be a butternut pumpkin (half a pumpkin usually suffices, unless it’s a small pumpkin then in that case just buy a small whole pumpkin).
I find that butternut pumpkin can hold it’s shape in the salad a little better, Jap pumpkin tends to collapse a little more, so I stick to butternut where possible.
Once the pumpkin is roasted, you can bring everything together and serve. You’ll want to wait for the pumpkin to cool slightly so it doesn’t wilt the spinach.
To toast the pinenuts: Place a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Don’t add any oil or anything, a dry fry pan is perfect. Place the pine nuts into the pan, and cook until just toasted – they burn quickly so don’t take your eyes off them. Once toasted, set aside until you’re building the salad.
Roast Pumpkin Salad
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
My family has been making this pumpkin salad for as long as I can remember, it’s a firm favourite. It’s a great winter salad, but works just as well in the warmer months as well
Ingredients
PUMPKIN
750g pumpkin, peeled and cubed
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper
SALAD
120g baby Spinach leaves
1 avocado, diced
60g Goat Cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup Pine Nuts, toasted
DRESSING
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
Salt & Pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180ºC, and line a tray with baking paper.
2. Place the cubed pumpkin onto the tray, in an even layer, drizzle with the olive oil and season. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and slightly softened (but not yet mushy and collapsing).
3. While the pumpkin is cooling, prepare the dressing by placing all ingredients into a jar and shake well (or into a bowl and whisk together).
4. Place the spinach, avocado, pine nuts, and goat cheese into a serving bowl, along with the cooked pumpkin. Drizzle over the dressing. Toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.
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