Roasted pumpkin, white bean purée & bergamot dressing.

Sweet, flavoursome pumpkin, caramelised onion, and smooth bean purée are drizzled generously with extra virgin olive oil for a comforting meal that welcomes the flavours of autumn. 

Now that summer is behind us, it’s time for a pumpkin recipe. We chose a variety called Delica, which has really beautiful, sweet, and dense orange flesh.  Plus, you can eat the skin—less work, more flavour. Paired with a caramelised onion and bean purée, and drizzled with a bergamot and olive oil dressing, it’s a great one for family feasting.

Here's the method: 

Feeds 6-8

• Soak the white beans overnight (if using dried). The next day, cook them until soft in salted water, on a gentle simmer. If you're using pre-cooked, we love Bold Bean Co queen cannellini beans. 
  
• While the beans are cooking, finely slice your onion and sweat it slowly with a good glug of EVOO and a pinch of salt. Allow it to gently caramelise, moving it around the pan whenever it catches. 
• When your beans are almost ready, peel and julienne the lemon, and peel the garlic—place both into the boiling water with the beans.
• Drain, reserving some of the water.
• Put the beans, lemon peel, garlic and caramelised onions into a food processor, add the juice of half a lemon, salt, 50ml of EVOO and enough of the cooking water to blend into a smooth dip. Set aside.
• Next, deseed the pumpkin and chop it into crescents, season, and drizzle with EVOO.
• Roast at 200°C until soft (about 25 minutes), turning once to get colour on both edges.
• Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl, add olive oil, honey, the zest of the bergamot and at least half the juice. Season and whisk. (You may want to add more honey or bergamot, taste as you go.) 
• Once the pumpkin is ready, dollop the bean purée onto a flat dish and arrange the crescents on top.
• Drizzle with the bergamot dressing. 

Top tip

Don't be afraid to make extra! The bergamot dressing is great over salads too, and the bean purée makes a great dip by itself.