Roasted Pumpkin (oven baked)
Thick wedges of season pumpkin are baked in the oven with herbs and spices. A great seasonal recipe that lets the vegetable shine! Easy and delicious side dish for the holiday season.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- ½ medium pumpkin cut into thick wedges
- 3 or 4 tablespoons olive oil see Notes below for alternatives
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- Black pepper freshly ground if possible, to taste
- Dash of cayenne pepper or hot/smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs or 2 teaspoons dried I like thyme and oregano or sage
- Pinch of ground cinnamon optional
- For serving: goat cheese or feta cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Cut the whole pumpkin in half and cut each pumpkin half into thick wedges. All the pumpkin slices might not fit in your oven at once, so you might need to bake them in two batches.
- Arrange the pumpkin wedges, cut side up, on a baking tray.
- Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon if using, and herbs.
- Bake for 15 minutes, and lay them on their sides. Continue baking for 15 more minutes, turn them on the other side and bake for 15 more minutes, or until golden and soft.
- Transfer the pumpkin wedges to the serving platter, scatter crumbled goat cheese or feta on top if you want, a drizzle of olive oil, and serve.
- I also like to serve it at room temperature without the cheese, just a platter of soft pumpkin wedges.
Notes
Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
Wedges: cut medium-large wedges as they tend to shrink quite a bit after baking. If using smaller pumpkins, you might consider cutting the whole pumpkin into only 4 pieces.
Herbs: I used thyme and oregano but it's a versatile recipe, so innovate with what you have at home. Sage goes very well and also rosemary if used sparingly.
Spices: it's good to add some ground cayenne or hot paprika if you want pumpkin with a kick. If going for a sweeter tone, add a pinch of ground cinnamon and nutmeg. It's always good to adjust recipes to your own taste whenever possible.
Baking time: if using a giant pumpkin or a very small pumpkin, make sure you adjust baking times.
Olive oil substitutions: for roasting pumpkin wedges (or vegetables in general really) you can use any type of oil, like sunflower or coconut oil. Or even melted butter.
Sweeter variation: you can also sprinkle a small amount of brown sugar or a light drizzle of maple syrup on top of the wedges before baking.