Moroccan-spiced pumpkin and goat's cheese pizza

Allyson Gofton

Pumpkin’s natural sweetness — boosted by baking and spiced up with Morocco’s fragrant ras-el-hanout blend — has a wonderful affinity with fresh goat’s cheese. Serve it embellished with handfuls of gutsy wild rocket and crunchy, crimson, jewel-like pomegranate seeds for a sensational pizza.

Ingredients

¼	Pumpkin, peeled and seeds removed (I used a crown pumpkin) (Main)
3 Tbsp	Olive oil
1 tsp	Ras-el-hanout, use up to 2 tsp; see note below (Main)
1 large	Pizza base, pre-cooked and plain (Main)
125 g	Goat's cheese, choose a fresh type and use up to 175g (I used The Drunken Nanny's Fresh Lush Goat Cheese) (Main)
½ cup	Pomegranate seeds
3 handfuls	Rocket leaves
1 drizzle	Lemon juice, or orange-infused olive oil

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 200C fan bake. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Cut the pumpkin into even-sized chunks and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil and all the ras-el-hanout. Scatter over prepared tray. Season with a little salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked. Mash roughly.
3. Place the pizza base on a clean baking paper-lined tray. Brush the base with the remaining oil.
4. Spread the mashed pumpkin over the pizza base. Dollop the goat's cheese over evenly.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the pizza base and the cheese have begun to brown. Scatter over the pomegranate seeds and rocket leaves and drizzle with the oil. Serve immediately.

Ras-el-hanout

Ras-el-Hanout literally means “house blend” and in its culinary home, Morocco, every cook has their own blend. I buy the ready-made Bazaar brand ras-el-hanout from Alexandra Fine Foods. If you do not have ras-el-hanout, use za’atar in its place. Leftover roast pumpkin can be coarsely mashed with the spice and frozen ready for later use.

Also try Allyson'sbuffalo mozzarella cheese, bacon and fennel pizza.