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Roasted Squash Wedges with Spiced Chickpeas and Tahini Yogurt
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The first squash comes out of the garden in September, when the vine leaves have gone papery and the stem behind the fruit turns corky and dry — the plant’s own signal that the flesh has finished sweetening. Left in the sun for a week to cure, that skin hardens into armour and the starch keeps turning to sugar. This recipe puts those sugars to work: wedges roasted to a bronze, caramel-edged crust, crackling cumin chickpeas, and a cold, sharp tahini yogurt cutting straight through.
⅔ cup (160 g) thick plain yogurt (Greek-style, or coconut yogurt)
12 sage leaves
¼ cup (35 g) pumpkin seeds
Flaky sea salt
The Recipe
Put a heavy baking tray into the oven and heat to 220 °C (425 °F). Do not skip this step: squash wedges laid on a cold tray release their water and steam in it, giving you pale, floppy flesh instead of a seared, sugary crust.
Halve the squash through the stem, scrape out seeds and fibres with a spoon, and cut into wedges about 1 in (2.5 cm) thick at the spine. Leave the skin on kabocha, Crown Prince and red kuri — it softens completely in the oven and holds each wedge together; peel butternut, whose skin stays leathery.
Toss the wedges with 3 tbsp of the olive oil, the ground cumin, coriander and 1 tsp flaky salt, rubbing the spices into every cut face — dry spices need oil contact to bloom, and salt applied at this stage draws surface moisture that then evaporates in the first minutes of high heat.
Lay the wedges cut-side down on the hot tray in a single layer, hearing them hiss on contact, and roast for 25 minutes without touching them. Turn each wedge with tongs when the underside is deep amber with dark freckles at the edges, then roast 10–12 minutes more, until a knife tip slides through the thickest part with no resistance.
Meanwhile, dry the chickpeas hard on a tea towel, rolling them until no damp shine remains — wet chickpeas will never crisp, they will only boil in the oil. Fry them in the remaining 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat with the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 7–8 minutes, until you hear a dry rattle and the skins blister and split.
Push the chickpeas to one side and drop in the sage leaves for 15–20 seconds, until they stop bubbling and stiffen like a pressed leaf — that silence means the water has gone and they will shatter on the tongue. Lift them onto kitchen paper. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan for 3 minutes until they swell and pop.
Grate the garlic into the lemon juice with a pinch of salt and leave 10 minutes — the acid tames the raw sulphur burn so the sauce tastes of garlic rather than stinging of it. Whisk in the tahini: it will seize into a stiff paste, which is normal. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time, whisking, until it loosens and turns pale ivory, then fold through the yogurt.
Spread the tahini yogurt over a wide platter, lay the hot wedges on top so the sauce slackens where it meets them, and scatter the chickpeas, pumpkin seeds and crumbled sage. Finish with flaky salt and a last thread of olive oil, and serve within a few minutes, while the temperature contrast between cold sauce and hot squash is still sharp.
