Baked Pumpkin Salad With Grilled Halloumi

It’s October again, a perfect moment for pumpkin recipes. I was thinking to a pumpkin salad for some time and when I found a beautiful pumpkin in the local market I knew it was about time. Baked pumpkin has a delicate autumn flavour… I like to bake it until the slices get dark brown or black on some areas. It can be sweet or not so sweet ( depending how lucky you are :) ), but it pairs well with almost any cheese in my opinion. This time I paired it with grilled halloumi and pine nuts, in a tasty autumn salad.

Preparing the ingredients

Preheat the oven to 210C with ventilation.

Cut the pumpkin in 1.5 - 2 cm slices and arrange them in a baking tray on baking paper.

Bake the pumpkin about 35-40 minutes or until you like the colour. You can switch the oven to grill if you consider for the last 5 minutes.

Cut the halloumi cheese in 1 cm thick slices and cook it on both sides on a cast iron or thick bottom grill. Feel free to use any haeavy skillet you have nearby.

Assembling the salad

Arrange the lettuce and the arugula on the bottom on the serving plate, followed by the baked pumpkin, cut in medium dice pieces and the halloumi cheese also cut or teared in medium pieces. Add the cherry tomatoes and the pine seeds (you can roast the pine seeds about 2 minutes for a more intense flavour), and pour over the olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. A pinch of salt and a grind of pepper, and yes … an orange squeeze over the top. For this salad I prefer adding the dressing ingredients one by one, instead of premixing them in a recipient first. I am looking to get “islands” with different flavour intensities, and mix the salad only while eating it.