There is something special about a pumpkin that has been slowly roasted whole in a smoker or in the coals of a fire. Slightly smoky, roasty, sweet and soft deliciousness.

This is a recipe for people who think they don’t like pumpkin.

Also, it is pretty much all about the pumpkin so you really gotta make sure that this sucker is cooked to soft, almost caramelized perfection.

SMOKED PUMPKIN SALAD

(serves a whole heap as part of a banquet)

1 medium pumpkin
½. cup slivered almonds, toasted in the oven or a pan
½ cup pepitas, toasted in the oven or a pan
Salt and pepper
Tahini dressing (recipe follows)
Za’atar (recipe follows)
Zhoug (recipe follows)

Fire up your barbecue to 275 F (135 C) or use the coals of a firepit if that’s how you want to roll.
Place pumpkin into a foil tray and then into your barbecue whole, unadulterated and exactly how it appears in your local vegetable market catalogue.
Let it ride for 2-3 hours, or however long it takes to be fully soft and cooked, rotating two or three times in the process.
Remove pumpkin from barbecue.
Use a large spoon to cut the stalk out of the top of the pumpkin and then carefully scoop out any seeds.
Cut the pumpkin into quarters and use the spoon to scoop the flesh from the skin.
Place the flesh onto a serving platter and chop roughly. Season pumpkin with salt and pepper.
Dress liberally with tahini dressing, followed by nuts and seeds and a good sprinkle of za’atar, followed by a scattering of zhoug.
It’s done. You can eat it now.

TAHINI DRESSING

2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon caster sugar
½ cup tahini
¼ cup soy sauce (gluten free soy is a good option to make this nice for your gluten intolerant belly)
200 ml coconut cream
125 ml lemon juice
250 ml canola oil

Combine everything except oil in a food processer and blitz for 20-30 seconds.
While motor is still running, slowly add oil to emulsify.
Pour dressing all over everything because it tastes so damn good.
You like tahini now, eh?
You’re welcome.
Any remaining dressing will last for 2 weeks in the fridge.

ZA’ATAR

2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
½ tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons sumac
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt

Get all ingredients into a bowl and mix well to combine.
For a finer and more combined version place za’atar into a blender or spice grinder and pulse a few times.

CHARRED CHILLI ZHOUG

6 fresh jalapeno chillis
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch coriander
3 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cardamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup canola oil
A good pinch of salt

Grill chillis over a flame (a cake rack placed over your stove top burner works well for this) for a few minutes, turning regularly until they are getting a little charred and blistered.
Allow to cool a little.
Roughly chop chillis, herbs and garlic.
Place everything into a food processor and pulse until it is a coarse, wet paste. Add a little extra canola oil if it looks like it needs it.
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Decant any extra zhoug into a jar and cover the top with an extra 2-3 mm of canola oil. This will last a week or so in the fridge. I put it on fish, eggs, roasted vegetables, roast lamb or chicken, and anything remotely middle eastern, but you can put it on pretty much anything you want.