The creamy caramelised pumpkin that tops this bruschetta can easily be prepared the night before for an indulgent week day breakfast or just add a poached egg and you’ve got a delicious weekend brunch. Sweet pumpkin, fragrant thyme and salty feta is a pretty classic combination, but perhaps you’re yet to eat it for breakfast?
I love this bruschetta just as is with some rocket and parsley scattered over the top. However a poached egg takes it to filling lunch level, especially if you throw in some sautéed mushrooms (+ you’re squeezing in an extra serve of veg). All those extras aren’t a necessity though.
What is a necessity is quality bread. I’m a big believer in the virtues of sourdough and really want to start making my own. Does anyone have any tips they’d like to share? I am not lucky enough to have a sourdough starter in the family so I will be creating my own and I have read up on this, but I’d love any tips you guys have for caring for the starter. I’m assuming it’s going to be like having another pet. The cat, Chino (named after Ryan in the O. C due to his street cat origins of course), is a pretty low maintenance creature so I feel I can handle a second pet. And what my sourdough starter will lack in affectionate cuddles will most likely be made up for in it’s ability to feed me, rather than the other way round. Here’s hoping.
For now, without my own sourdough roving in the kitchen, I rely on my local bakery Loafer where they naturally leven their bread. It’s got so much flavour and the natural fermentation process is also meant to make the wheat easy to digest. Plus they even make spelt bread there. No, they are not sponsoring this post I just really like their bread! They are stocked elsewhere in Melbourne and you can order online too if you are a secret bread fiend like me and want to get your hands on a loaf.
Make sure you use quality feta and a nice bright orange fleshed butternut pumpkin. There’s not many ingredients in this so you really do want them to be of the best quality you can afford.
As I mentioned earlier you could roast the pumpkin the night before, heat it up the next morning if desired, and mash it with the other ingredients just before serving. Mashing everything together will be quicker than toasting your bread.
Hot tip: if the bread is fresh toast it in a pan not a toaster, you’ll preserve the freshly baked insides that way whereas the toaster will sort of dry it out a bit.
Just multiply the recipe if you’re serving more than just you (that’s very nice of you, they better do the dishes).
Ingredients
200g butternut pumpkin, roughly chopped into 3cm pieces, skin on is fine.
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbs fresh thyme
1 tbs spring onion
1 x slice of sourdough bread
1 tbs flat leaf parsley
1 small handful rocket
1 tsp sunflower seeds toasted
black pepper
salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Toss pumpkin with 1/2 the olive oil and 1/2 the thyme and transfer to a parchment paper lined baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes or until soft and cooked through.
Toast bread, preferably in a pan if it is fresh.
Combine pumpkin, 1/2 the feta, spring onion, remaining thyme (+roasted thyme), oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper, roughly mash.
Spread the pumpkin mix on the sourdough top with the parsley, rocket, sunflower seeds and remaining feta.
Devour. Or top with a poached egg. Up to you.
HH. x
