At The Chefs Counter: Grilled Delica Pumpkin, Pickled Walnut and Kale
First in our monthly series of recipes all cooked from the chef’s counter.
For January we have this delicious vegan dish with bags of flavour – the aperfect dish to get through winter!
We use aged Delica pumpkins, aged in barns for 30 days, which removes excess moisture and intensifies both flavour and sweetness. The pumpkin is grilled over hot coals (if you don’t have a grill, similar flavour can be achieved by charring in a cast-iron pan). Once cooked we glaze in a miso and rice vinegar glaze and toss in a hazelnut dukkha. There’s also our sweet and sour pickled walnut “ketchup”, which pairs perfectly with the sweet and smoky charred flavour from the pumpkin.
Make extra ketchup – it also works very well with roast beef, or pork, and is very good with a rustic pork paté.
Pumpkin
- 2-3 Delica pumpkins
- Olive oil or cold pressed rape oil
- Maldon sea salt
- 400g kale
- Wash and peel the pumpkin. Cut in half through the top. Remove and core seeds and soft pulp. Cut the pumpkin in half again and then each piece in half again (8 pieces per pumpkin) Once this is done, now start with the pickled walnut ketchup, then the glaze and dukkha. Clean and wash the kale, remove the main stalk.
- Lightly dress the pumpkin with the oil and a pinch of salt (not too much as the glaze is salty) Cook the pumpkin over the hot coals or in a cast- iron pan with a little bit of cold pressed rape seed oil, until a nice even charred colour.
- Check for doneness by testing with a sharp thin knife, there should be very little resistance. If not cooked and it’s getting to much colour, finish cooking in a 160c oven for 5-10 minutes. Once cooked, toss the pumpkin in a large mixing bowl with the glaze and a sprinkle of the dukkha, keep warm.
- Dress the kale in oil and a pinch of salt, cook quickly over the coals or in a hot sauté pan (if cooking in a pan, add a tablespoon of water to help steam cooking the kale) Once tender remove from heat.
- Place 4 round pools of the walnut ketchup on heated plates. Place the pumpkin on top (4 -6 pieces per portion) Place the kale on top or scattered over the pumpkin. Scatter some more dukkha over the dish and drizzle some vinaigrette or olive oil over the kale.
Miso-rice vinegar glaze
- 50g white miso
- 50g black treacle
- 50g light soy sauce (gluten free)
- 50g rice wine vinegar
- 50g pickled walnut liquid (from the walnuts)
- 5g micro planed garlic
- 5g micro planed ginger
- Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well, set a side
Dukkha
- 30g coriander seed
- 15g cumin seed
- 7g caraway seed
- Pepper and Maldon sea salt
- 60g white sesame seed
- 50g hazelnuts-blanched
- 50g pumpkin seed
- Toast the spices in a dry hot pan, making sure not to burn the spices. Grind the spices until fine, but not to a powder, keep some coarseness to the spices. Toast the sesame seeds. Toast the pumpkin seed and hazelnuts Add the salt, sesame seeds, pumpkin seed and hazelnuts to blender and blend until semi coarse texture. Place in a bowl and set aside.
Pickled Walnut Ketchup
- 210g (drain weight) pickled walnut (1 Jar)
- 25g Dijon mustard
- 100g black treacle
- 25g walnut oil or olive oil
- 5g Maldon Sea salt
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Place in a bowl and set a side
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