Kuri Pumpkin Squash with Coriander Dressing & Dukkah
I am all about supercharging your meals with textures and flavours to not only give yourself an extra ‘oomph’ of flavour but also a good nutritional kick too!
I believe the KEY between the effort of cooking your own food from scratch and buying processed food is whatever you make yourself should be so damn delicious that the shop-bought stuff, even if convenient, loses hands down on flavour.
I know the taste of coriander splits the room, but I love it! The coriander dressing is one of my favourites and I use it to add intense flavour to ANYTHING, think morning eggs, any roast veggies, stirred through fluffy quinoa and to dollop on top of any curry. If you love coriander I would urge you to buy organic avoiding the shop-bought herbs that are mostly grown in hot houses not outside, the result being less flavour.
Dukkah is an Egyptian spice & nut blend that typically includes a mixture of toasted nuts, seeds, and spices such as coriander, cumin, and sesame. While traditional recipes often feature hazelnuts or almonds, you can use any nut or seed you have like I did here with macadamias (obsessed!) and skin on hazelnuts (the flavour is worth the fluff). I love the nuts from By Nature which you can get online here and here. Sprinkling dukkah on salads, yoghurt, or use it as a crust for veggies (or meats) it provides a delightful and flavoursome crunch.
Organic orange kuri squash is a thin skinned orange coloured early autumn squash in SA, although it still feels like summer! It looks like a small pumpkin without the ridges. It belongs to the Hubbard squash group. Inside the hard outer skin there is a firm flesh that provides a very delicate and mellow chestnut-like flavour.
This fabulous side would be great served with:
Kuri Pumpkin Squash with Coriander Dressing & Dukkah
Ingredients
- 1 large kuri squash sliced into thick wedges, skin kept on
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- Salt & pepper
Coriander Dressing
- 50 g coriander leaves only if stems are woody
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds toasted
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- Zest 1 lemon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon possibly more
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 1 green chilli seeds in or removed
Any Nut Dukkah
- 1/4 cup unsalted macadamia nuts
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200c & line a baking tray with baking paper.
- In a small frying pan (no oil), toast the teaspoons of cumin, coriander and fennel seeds until fragrant, add to a mortar & pestle (M&P) and roughly grind, no need to wash the M&P, we will need it for the dukkah.
- Add the squash wedges and the freshly ground spices to a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper, mix well with your hands. Add the wedges to the tray with baking paper, add a final drizzle with olive oil and roast in the preheated oven until golden, turning once. NB: pumpkins roast quicker than butternut - so do keep an eye, we still want a bit of bite. Remove and keep aside.
- Meanwhile to make the dukkah - add everything to a small baking tray and pop in the same oven as the pumpkin, roast until golden, about 5-7 minutes, keep an eye on the colour. Tip everything in the M&P (you might need to do this in stages if your M&P is small. Grind until everything is well incorporated and you are left with a rough looking dukkah. Have a taste and add more salt if needed. Dukkah is a seasoning so it needs to be salty.
- To make the dressing, add the ingredients together in a Nutribullet, ADD 1 tablespoon water and whizz until smooth, adjusting the salt or more acidity (lemon juice) if needed. You do want it to be zippy and scoop able, so if its to thick play around with adding more water, 1 teaspoon at at time remembering to adjust the salt & lemon juice.
- To serve, add the pumpkin to a pretty platter drizzle some of the dressing over the wedges and sprinkle over some of the dukkah. Season with a final pinch of flaky sea salt. Enjoy!