Roasted Pumpkin with Yogurt and Black Sage Honey Sauce

During my visit to a Latin supermarket, trying to find an ingredient for one of my Jamaican dishes, I came across a beautiful piece of pumpkin that had such a vibrant orange color, that I just couldn’t resist getting. I just knew it would have been perfect for a dish I had in mind. Roasting pumpkin brings out the sweet flavors and the soft silkiness of the vegetable. Adding some smoky spices to the pumpkin gives it that warm, comforting taste and fragrant smell that I was looking for.

Photography by Robert Demetrius

Black sage honey has a buttery caramel flavor that I thought would go wonderfully well with the roasted pumpkin sprinkled with smoky spices. So, I decided to serve the roasted pumpkin with thick and creamy Greek yogurt blended with the buttery caramel flavor of the black sage honey to just top it off.

2 pounds pumpkin

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

Yogurt and Black Sage Honey Sauce

Start by pre-heating the oven to 450°Fahrenheit.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash the pumpkin well, then pat dry before slicing it into ½ inch thin slices.

In a small dish, blend 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon coriander, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and ½ teaspoon salt together.

Pumpkin Slices with Spices and Garlic

Place pumpkin slices on the parchment paper lined sheet before drizzling with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then sprinkle with ½ of the spice blend. Turn the pumpkin slices over and repeat the process by drizzling with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then sprinkle with the spice blend.

Mince 1 large clove of garlic and sprinkle over the pumpkin slices.

Once the oven has come to 450°Fahrenheit, place the baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes, before turning the pumpkin slices and baking them on the other side for a further 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Slices Hot from the Oven

Prepare the Yogurt and Black Sage Honey Sauce by mixing the yogurt and honey together.

Pumpkin Slices Ready to be Served

Let the pumpkin slices remain on the sheet for about a minute before transferring to a platter. Serve a dollop of my Yogurt and Black Sage Honey Sauce with the roasted pumpkin.

This serves 4. Voilà. If you are like me, I couldn’t wait to eat it so I dipped the roasted pumpkin into the yogurt. Enjoy!