Roasted eggplant and pumpkin with feta and lemon

Oh, this dish was just so delicious!

We've been eating lots of pumpkin lately as it is pumpkin season right now and it is abundant. I thought this combination with sweet pumpkin, silky eggplant, creamy feta, and the tartness of lemon juice was wonderful. You could make up a huge platter of this for a bbq or family feast. Yum!

I served this as a part of a vegetable banquet, no meat on the table. The only reason for this was that we had lots of vegetables and salad ingredients in the fridge that needed to be used. I promise you I am NOT turning into a vegetarian - I simply love meat too much. But we all really enjoyed the dishes and felt lovely and full afterwards.

What you'll need

Served four as a side dish, with leftovers.

2 medium eggplants, sliced into wedges (I cut each eggplant into 6 wedges)
Half a medium-sized butternut pumpkin, skin on, cut into wedges the same size as the eggplant (10 wedges)
1 tablespoon olive oil
200g packet feta cheese, crumbled
Juice of 1 lemon
1 red onion, 1 brown onion, sliced into rings
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil (some for frying the onions, some for basting the vegetables)
Salt and pepper

What to do

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.

On a large lined baking tray, place the wedges of pumpkin and eggplant, skin-side down. Using a basting brush, paint all the pieces with olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper.

Bake for approximately 30 - 40 minutes, or until the pumpkin and eggplant are browning and soft.
Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the eggplant and pumpkin are baking, in a pan, fry the onions over medium to low heat with a little olive oil. Add the garlic and fry until everything is soft and golden - about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

Assemble the dish.

Arrange the pumpkin and eggplant wedges on a platter. Spoon over the fried onions and then sprinkle with feta cheese. Finally, squeeze the lemon juice over the top, then serve while warm.

I think you could eat this dish by itself with some crusty bread and a salad. Or serve it as a side dish to roasted chicken or lamb. I would have loved to sprinkle some sumac over the top of this dish, but I cannot find it in Vienna yet. I will have to keep hunting.