Karen Martini is a great Australian chef known for her contemporary takes on traditional food, in particular Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and classic English. She is the founding chef of Sydney’s famous Icebergs Dining Room and Bar located at Bondi Beach, the author of 3 hugely popular cookbooks, owner of Mr Wolf pizzeria in Melbourne as well as a TV presenter. What I love about Karen Martini is that she keeps the base flavours of traditional foods authentic but adds something simple to make it extra special. I especially love her salads, and this is one of my favourites. Pumpkin and cinnamon is not a flavour combination that is familiar to many Australians. I think in the US it is more familiar owing to the popularity of pumpkin pie which is a traditional sweet dessert that is commonly made for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But try it once and you’ll be converted. Cinnamon and pumpkin go together like tomato and basil. It’s even more incredible when the pumpkin is drizzled with olive oil and roasted in a hot oven so it caramelises. The golden brown burnt bits are my favourite part, I wish I could package it up so I could snack on it all the time! The tangy yoghurt in this Cinnamon Roasted Pumpkin is perfect to offset the creamy pumpkin and the toasted pine nuts provide a great texture contrast. You could easily substitute the pine nuts with other nuts – almonds or macadamia nuts would go well. Just chop them up roughly and toast them to bring out the flavour. Other than how incredibly tasty and unique this dish is, here are other reasons why I love this so much: Hope you give it a try! – Nagi x
