Smashed pumpkin toast with pomegranate, homemade hummus, crispy kale, feta and a perfectly poached egg. Move over, avocado toast! Jump to Recipe
This morning was a turning point, heralding winter’s arrival to Melbourne. Cheeks blushed red with that conflicting icy-heat of cold air, fingers tucked inside sleeves to avoid the chill, and eyes watering in the wind – people move faster in winter. A mixture of trying to send blood around to our extremities and an attempt to get to somewhere with heating as fast as possible, maybe.
My stress fracture injury seems to be finally healing, and though I’m not supposed to run for a few more months yet, I have been going for frequent walks. It is challenging to restrain my impatient legs from jogging – missing that feeling of burning muscles screaming for oxygen, of your heart being half way up to your throat, and the mindlessness of putting one foot in front of the other. You can think a lot more when you walk, maybe because less of your mental capacity is focused on moving forward. At least I have Lemonade to listen to at the moment.
Cooking is a similar sort of concentration. Rather than being consumed by physical exertion, I’m normally figuring out the ingredients and measurements, the next step to take for maximal efficiency. This smashed pumpkin toast with pomegranate & hummus is like that – once the pumpkin is in the oven, you can prepare everything else, ready to get set go once it emerges, wrinkly and fragrant. Make the hummus, water on for eggs, prep the herbs and spices, start the dishes, crisp up the kale and deseed your pomegranate – the latter hopefully without permanently staining your white shirt or chopping board, like me.
It is also made for the cooling weather (although don’t get me wrong – if you’re lucky enough to be in spring, go ahead and make it too!). Pumpkin is roasted and caramelised, tender and crisp at the edges, then mashed and sautéed with garlic, thyme, roasted almonds and the rich tanginess of pomegranate molasses. Chopped mint & parsley inject freshness, dukkah for that earthy spice, and you can serve it up on a bed of smooth homemade hummus with crusty bread.
Crispy kale offers texture, almost disappearing in your mouth with its fragile lightness. Extras take it to the next level: the pop of bright pink pomegranate arils, chunks of creamy feta, and a perfectly poached egg, yolk oozing down to reach the folds of hummus below.
Move over, avocado toast!
AND it is one of those dishes that could be served for brunch, lunch or dinner, and is very adaptable. Last night I forgot the almonds, so substituted toasted pumpkin & sunflower seeds. If you don’t have dukkah, just use a pinch of a few spices in the cupboard. Not much mint? Try some parsley as well. Add greens if you like – asparagus for those in the spring, or late summer zucchini or broccolini in autumn. The pumpkin smash itself could be served separately as a middle-eastern side dish. Add harissa if you want a bit of extra heat. Endless adjustments.
You’ve probably noticed by now that I LOVE homemade hummus – if you do too, you might also like:
– Ottolenghi’s Lamb Kofta with Corn, Zucchini & Roasted Carrot Salad and Homemade Hummus
– Middle-Eastern Chermoula Lamb Skewers with Tabouli, Hummus and Pita
– Homemade Bagels with Coriander-Lime Hummus, Avocado & Salmon
- 600 g peeled Kent/Japanese pumpkin , chopped into small chunks
- olive oil , salt and pepper
- 2-3 large kale leaves , cut from the stem
- 1/2 -1 tsp thyme leaves
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 3 tbsp almonds , toasted & roughly chopped
- 2-3 tbsp mint , roughly chopped (can substitute flat-leaf parsley)
- 1/2 -1 tsp pomegranate molasses , to taste
- sprinkle of dukkah (substitute with a pinch of ground cumin & coriander if you don’t have any handy)
- feta , to crumble over (20-50g)
- 1/4 - 1/2 pomegranate , arils
- Toast - any bread you like , thick-cut toast slices
- Poached eggs (tips & tricks here)
- 1 x 400g can chickpeas
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic , crushed
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt to taste
- ice cold water to thin to desired consistency
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Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
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Spread out the pumpkin chunks on the tray, drizzle with olive oil and liberally season with salt and pepper.
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Roast for 30 minutes, or until tender when speared with a fork.
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Meanwhile, make the hummus (recipe below)
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Put a small pot of water onto boil for the poached eggs.
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Cut the kale leaves off the tough stem. Place on another baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle over 1 tbsp olive oil & season with salt. Using your fingers, rub the olive oil into the leaves.. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until crisp at the edges.
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When pumpkin is done, remove from the oven, transfer to a bowl and mash with a fork.
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Place garlic & thyme leaves in a small sauce pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the almonds & cook for 1 minute.
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Add the pumpkin and stir to combine. Cook for another couple of minutes, then add the pomegranate molasses, herbs, and dukkah. Turn the heat off and set aside.
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Toast your bread and poach the eggs (guide to perfect poached eggs HERE)
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Serve up with a generous smear of hummus, toast, smashed pumpkin, crispy kale, a sprinkle of feta & pomegranate arils. Top with poached eggs.
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Pour the contents of the chickpea can (liquid included), into a micro-wave safe bowl. Microwave for 1.5 minutes. Drain. At this point, if you want to make your hummus SUPER smooth, peel most of the skins off the chickpeas between your fingers. (this is totally optional - hummus is still amazing leaving them on, and much faster!)
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In a food processor, blitz the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. Add the chickpeas and process until a thick, smooth paste forms - this may take a few minutes. Add the iced water, a tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency. Remember that if the hummus is going to be left to sit for a while, it will start to thicken - so err towards the slightly thinner side. Taste and season with salt and more lemon if needed.
These photos plus your description of this dish are making my mouth water, Claudia! Move on over avocado toast, indeed! Lovely that you’re getting a hint of winter there in Melbourne. I love that crisp feeling of the cooler mornings at this time of the year. It would be a lie to say that it’s getting cold here in Brisbane, but it’s just that bit fresher in the mornings and evenings – hurrah! It’s thongs and t-shirts during the day though still. So glad to hear you are healing, too. Before you know it, those few months will have passed and you’ll be able to run again! 🙂
Thanks so much Lisa! Does Brisbane ever get cold? Lucky you! It has been freezing and pouring down here this week, and SO windy. We bypassed the lovely crisp mornings and warm days a couple of weeks ago 🙁
Lovely to hear from you! x
Move over avocado toast and move over breakfast.. I’m tempted to make this for dinner tonight! haha. Cannot believe how many complimenting flavours you’ve stuffed onto one plate! and I love those ceramics. the grey speckled/rustic look is a great canvas for all those vibrant colours and textures! do tell where you found them?
Haha I’ve made it for dinner, no shame there!! Thanks so much Hannah.
The ceramics I actually got from the cafe that I worked at in the summer, Little & Friday – the daughter of the owner, Holly, has a handmade ceramics business operating out of the back. I couldn’t not get some!! Her website is http://houstondesignco.bigcartel.com
Gorgeous, right? Now I want some of her bowls!
OH MY GOODNESS. I just HAD to pin this recipe. Not only does it use kabocha, which is probably hands down my FAVORITE root vegetable at the moment (besides the sweet potato), but the presentation is so creative! The poached eggs look delicious with the pumpkin and kale–also, the pomegranate hummus is such a fantastic idea!
Thanks so much Cassie!! Pumpkin is so underestimated I reckon – people see roast pumpkin as being the boring side dish to roast meat- but it doesn’t have to be like that! Would love to know what you think if you give it a go x
I read so many blogs from Australia and I have a feeling I’m going to start being a little confused when all the seasonal recipes start greeting me in my inbox. But that’s okay, because this is so comforting! I just want to curl up and dig in. I’m glad your fracture is on the mend-hang in there! You’ll be pounding the pavement again soon.
Hahaha I’m feeling the same way with all these light, summery recipes with strawberries and rhubarb around – devastated that strawberries are like $7 per 200g punnet here at the moment, completely out of season! Thanks so much Megan, lovely to hear from you! xx
Yes, Yes. . .avocado toast will soon be so passe when the world gets wind of this stunning pumpkin toast. I absolutely adore all the colors and textures.
Here in Boston, we are starting to transition into spring . . .although the temperatures are still a bit of the cool side. I don’t envy the fact that you are approaching winter. On the plus side. . .at least you have this beauty to cozy up to.
Oh thank you so much Lynn! Spring in Boston must be so lovely, and to finally get some sun after all that snow and freezing cold?! YAY you must be excited! x
Such a warm, comforting dish Claudia. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Mary Ann! You are so right, could eat it ANY time of day – and aren’t those the best meals?!
x
This looks like the ultimate comfort meal. 🙂 Love the pumpkin, hommus, pomegranate and yolk-ey (is that word?) egg!! I could reach into the screen and eat it right now. Love the photos as usual. Looks like Autumn is more adventurous in your kitchen. We have just been making Thermomix curries and one pot pastas recently. I have had no energy to do much with all the hours I have been doing. I am starting the C25k challenge soon and bought myself a pair of Brooks. Maybe I should start walking so we can then become running buddies. I injured my gluteus medius that weekend I played Quidditch so I am now all sore and doing lots of yoga to build it back up and stretch more. So lovely to meet you too! 🙂 We definitely need to do it again soon, maybe a power walk then breakfast. x
It is totally a word Lynnette- yolk-ey sounds pretty legitimate to me, and it perfectly describes that awesome feeling of slicing into a perfectly poached egg! Definitely comfort food, which is what I need at the moment in this horrendous weather! And don’t worry, I’m making spag bol tonight which is much less glamorous haha.
YAY you for the new shoes and C25k challenge! I had to look it up because I hadn’t heard of it before, but it sounds great – good way to get motivated too. And ugh I hear so much about glut med – my Dad seriously loves it, he is all about glut med exercises… it is so important to have it really strong for hip injuries and not getting injured running though! Power walk then breakfast sounds like a plan – might have to be in a few weekends time but yes!! x
Oh this looks so good! I’ve never combined hummus and toast before, but it sounds divine!
Glad your injury is almost healed! I know what you’re going through. I’ve finally just gotten over a stress injury from marathon training last summer, and it’s so nice to be able to run again. Hope you can lace up your sneakers again real soon!
Thanks Tracy!! Definitely try hummus on toast- sometimes I do smashed avo with feta & coriander AND hummus and that is amazing too.
You totally know what it is like then – not fun going from doing so much running to being physically unable to do any! Glad to hear that you are back on your feet now though 🙂 x
OMG that egg!! Talk about perfection! What a cool idea putting smashed pumpkin on toast— definitely will be trying this come the fall 🙂
Thanks Liz, would love to know what you think if you give it a go! x
I love this recipe as an alternative to avocado toast. I probably could eat this at any time of the day!