Luke Mangan's smashed spiced pumpkin & ricotta on rye with poached eggs
Luke Mangan's smashed spiced pumpkin & ricotta on rye with poached eggs
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Tuck into this great vegetarian breakfast dish, with lots of beautiful Moroccan spices. Try using sweet potato as it also works well instead of the pumpkin.
Ingredients (serves 8)
Moroccan-spiced pumpkin
- ½ medium butternut pumpkin, skin left on, cut in half and seeds removed
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp ras el hanout (a North African spice blend)
- 400 g ricotta cheese
- Harissa yoghurt
- 300 g Greek-style yoghurt
- 30 g harissa paste
- 3 tsp lime juice
- To serve
- 8 free-range eggs
- 3 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 slices rye bread, toasted
- 3 tbsp dukkah (a blend of toasted nuts and spices, available from good food stores)
- ½ bunch chives, finely chopped
- 8 thyme sprigs, leaves picked extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Coat the pumpkin with the olive oil and ras el hanout and season with salt and pepper. Cover each half with foil and bake for 1 ¼ hours, or until tender.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Scoop out the flesh, discarding the skin. Warm the pumpkin in a saucepan over low heat, then stir in the ricotta and cook until the mixture is hot. Keep warm.
Combine all the harissa yoghurt ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
To poach the eggs, fill a wide saucepan with about 8-centimetres of water.
Add the vinegar and salt and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium–low, so the water is just simmering, with small bubbles rising from the bottom of the pan and small ripples across the top of the water.
Using a wooden spoon or whisk, stir the simmering water in one direction to create a whirlpool – this will help give your poached eggs a neat shape. Crack an egg into a saucer. Slide the egg from the saucer as close to the water as possible, into the centre of the whirlpool. Cook, without stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes for a semi-soft yolk, or 3 to 4 minutes for a firm-set yolk. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the egg to paper towel to drain. Season and keep warm while cooking the remaining eggs, one at a time.
To serve, place the toast on serving plates and spread with a generous spoonful of the pumpkin mash. Top with the poached eggs, then a good dollop of the harissa yoghurt. Sprinkle with the dukkah, chives, thyme leaves and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
This recipe is a taste of Sharing Plates by Luke Mangan. Published by Murdoch Books, $39.99