½ a small butternut pumpkin (sliced lengthways)
1 large red onion cut into eight wedges
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled & lightly crushed
Few sprigs fresh thyme
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Head of washed First Fleet lettuce
1 dessertspoon balsamic vinegar
parmesan cheese, shaved
Preheat oven to 200°C. De-seed the pumpkin and cut off the skin. Cut across the pumpkin into even sized wedges 1 cm thick. Put the pumpkin pieces and garlic cloves on a baking tray and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
Dry roast the pine nuts in a frying pan. When browned, turn out onto paper towel and set aside.
Briefly remove the pumpkin from the oven and add the onion wedges, a further tablespoon of olive oil and extra salt and pepper. Tuck the thyme sprigs under the onions and pumpkin and roast for another 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft and the onions lightly caramelized. Leave to cool.
Wash and dry the lettuce and dress with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Lay on your serving dish and arrange the pumpkin and onions on top of the leaves. (Discard the garlic and thyme). Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and a little extra virgin olive oil. Using a vegetable peeler, shave off some parmesan cheese onto the salad and finish with the scattering of the pine nuts.