Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 35 mins

Servings: 4 - 5 people
Calories: 264cal

Ingredients
Pumpkin:
600 g / 1.2 lb pumpkin (after peeling), cut into 3cm / 1.25" cubes (Note 1)
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Dressing:
2.5 tbsp / 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Salt and pepper

Salad:
1/4 cup / 35g pine nuts (Note 2)
150 g / 5 oz baby spinach leaves (4 handfuls)
60 g / 2 oz feta , crumbled (or more!!)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220C/430F (standard) or 200C/390F (fan/convection).
2. Toss pumpkin with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on baking tray, bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip, then bake for a further 7 - 10 minutes until golden but not mushy. (Note 3) Loosen pumpkin with egg flip (it can adhere as it cools), then if serving salad at room temperature, leave to cool.
3. Shake Dressing in a jar. Taste and adjust to taste. I like it a bit sharp because it balances out the flavours in this salad.
4. Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until light golden and it smells nutty. Remove pine nuts from skillet as soon as it's ready.
5. Place Spinach in a bowl. Drizzle with a bit of dressing then toss.
6. Add pumpkin, just a bit of feta and pine nuts, then GENTLY BRIEFLY toss just to disperse the feta. (If you toss vigorously, the feta can make it look messy).
7. Transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle over remaining feta and pine nuts. Just before serving, drizzle with remaining dressing (dressing doesn't stay on baby spinach well, so worth drizzling at end). Serve!

Video

Notes

1. You can use any pumpkin or squash for this recipe. 
2. Pine nuts are expensive but worth using in this recipe, it's the perfect finishing touch However, you can sub with any other nuts of choice. Chopped almonds and macadamias are great.
3. Pumpkin turns to mush if baked for too long. You don't want mush in your salad. So keep an eye on it - it should be tender with a nice golden surface on at least 2 sides (i.e. the sides that were in contact with the tray during baking). And also, loosen pumpkin from tray using an egg flip / spatula when you take it out of the oven - if you don't do this while hot, it might stick to the tray.
4. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings and that all the dressing is consumed. Reality is that most of the Dressing ends up at the bottom of the bowl because dressing doesn't stick that well to baby spinach. So actual calories will be less than this.