The Perfect Winter Salad
Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage is a wonderful gluten-free, vegan, warm salad that makes the onset of autumn joyous. Full of deep, earthy and floral flavours the salad jumps off the plate. I adore it drizzled gluten-free, vegan aioli and served with toasted gluten-free, vegan crackers, Garlic-Free Houmous and crudites. Sublime.
Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage is easy to make but it takes time to roast the pumpkin.
Perfect for a lunch, light dinner or starter to a large meal. Serve Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage with Gluten Free Vegan Rosemary and Sea Salt Crackers.
Allergy Information – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage
Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage is celery free, coconut free, garlic free, gluten free, lupin free, nightshade free*, onion free, peanut free, sesame free, soya free, tree nut free, vegan.
*For nightshade free, leave out the chilli.
Top Tips – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage
I love to roast the pumpkin until it is dark, soft and slightly gooey! I leave the pumpkin skin on to roast (it is very hard to peel raw and super easy to peel cooked). I usually also leave it on to serve. It tastes good but you can remove the skin very easily if you wish.
If you do not have a food processor or immersion blender to make the aioli do not worry. I usually make it (very) successfully in an old jam jar. Exactly the same steps but with lots of shaking of the jam jar. You can also serve with just a really good virgin olive oil if you don’t fancy aioli.
Recipe – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage
Difficulty easy
Serves 4-6
Preparation time 5 minutes
Cooking time 50 minutes
Ingredients – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage
1 large pumpkin
3 tablespoons rapeseed oil (or more depending upon the size of your pumpkin)
1 sprig (~20 grams) fresh sage
1 dried red chilli (optional – leave out for nightshade free or reduce if you don’t like heat)
1 tablespoon Maldon (or flaked) sea salt
0.5 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large eating apple (tart apple e.g. cox)
1 Cos or Romaine lettuce
Ingredients – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage – Pumpkin Seeds
All seeds from the pumpkin
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
0.5 teaspoon sea salt
0.5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Ingredients – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage – Aioli
2.5 tablespoons lemon juice
1.25 teaspoons sea salt
0.25 teaspoon mustard powder
120 millilitres rapeseed oil
Method – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage
1. Preheat oven to 200 C (fan).
2. Clean the pumpkin and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds and place them in a small bowl – DO NOT throw them away (see cooking instructions below). These really are the best (and most nutritious) part of the pumpkin. Slice the pumpkin into lengths
3. Finely chop one whole dried chilli (if using) and separate the sage leaves
4. Place the pumpkin on a large flat baking sheet and lightly coat in the rapeseed oil. (The easiest way to do this is put a tablespoon or so in the palm of your hands, pick up the pumpkin slices and rub the oil in)
5. Sprinkle the pumpkin liberally with the sage (keep approximately eight leaves aside), chilli and salt and pepper
6. Place in the oven for 50 minutes or until golden and lightly crispy on the edges. Check the pumpkin after 40 minutes as varying sizes will take different times to cook
7. Once golden and soft remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes
8. Whilst the pumpkin is roasting core the apple(s) and cut into bit sizes chunks. Cut the lettuce into bite sized chunks also and arrange on a large serving dish
9. Fry the eight or so sage leaves in olive oil until crispy
9. When the pumpkin is slightly cooled cut into bite sized chunks. I usually leave the skin on but you can remove it at this stage (it is much easier to remove the skin when cooked)
10. Arrange the pumpkin on the salad, scatter with crispy sage leaves and pumpkin seeds and drizzle with the dressing. Serve.
Method – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage – Pumpkin Seeds
1. Whilst the pumpkin is baking take the seeds from the pumpkin and add a tablespoon of oil and mix to lightly coat the seeds. Season with salt and pepper
2. Spread evenly on a flat baking sheet and bake in the same oven as the pumpkin for 10-15 until dark and crispy
3. We usually eat them fresh from the oven but they keep in a jar in the fridge for a few days.
Method – Pumpkin Salad with Crispy Sage – Aioli
1. Put the lemon juice, salt and mustard powder in to a food processor and blend. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes
3. Set the food processor going and very slowly add the rapeseed oil to the blending lemon juice mixture – a very slow dribble. Keep blending – you will see the mixture start to thicken and form an emulsion. Keep blending until all the oil is added and you have a thick emulsion.
