Roast pumpkin and shallots with fennel, curry leaves and goat's cheese

Ingredients

• ¼ Japanese pumpkin 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp fennel seeds 
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar 
• 1 tsp honey 
• 1 handful curry leaves 
• sea salt and black pepper 
• 6–8 shallots, peeled, left whole 
• goat’s cheese and goat’s curd, to serve

Drink match Meerea Park Terracotta Semillon 2006, Hunter Valley, NSW

"This dish is all about comforting, wintry food, with the caramelised vegetables offering sweetness as a counterpoint to the salty, almost acid tang of the goats’ cheese and curd. With the fennel seeds and the curry leaves in there, too, there are some wonderful flavours at play. It’s quite a rich dish, so you’ll want a wine with a bit of body and texture, but not too much oak. This would be a good time to pull out an aged semillon, like this recent Hunter Valley Wine Show multi trophy-winner from Meerea Park. It’s gained a bit of toast with age to round out the natural citrus flavours, making it a great wine for this sort of occasion." Dan Coward

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and chop into large chunks or crescents, leaving the skin on.

Mix the olive oil, fennel seeds, vinegar, honey and curry leaves together. Season with salt and pepper. Toss the pumpkin and shallots through the mixture and transfer to a large roasting tray.

Roast for 45 minutes or until the shallots and pumpkin are well caramelised. Remove from the oven, add the goat’s cheese and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

When the goat’s cheese has melted, transfer to a serving tray and dot with small pieces of goat’s curd.