Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Pumpkin

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  Briefly sort through the lentils, rinse them in a colander, pour them into a saucepan, cover with a sufficient amount of cold water, and bring to a boil. If you have an extra 5 minutes, drain the boiling water, cover the lentils with new cold water, and bring to a boil again. Add thyme and simmer gently for 25 minutes.
• 2
  Peel the pumpkin with a peeler, cut it in half, and scoop out all the fibrous flesh and seeds with a spoon. Cut the cleaned pumpkin into sticks 4-5 cm long with varying degrees of curvature. Mix with two tablespoons of olive oil, a large pinch of salt, spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place in an oven preheated to 200-220 degrees.
• 3
  In the meantime, peel the onion and garlic and chop both finely. Heat a pan with the remaining olive oil and let the onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt soften and become translucent. Pour in the tomato purée, two tablespoons of water, and let it simmer gently until the lentils are cooked.
• 4
  After 25 minutes, remove the lentils from the heat, drain, and add them to the prepared tomato sauce. Mix and salt to taste. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces, slice the spring onion thinly, and crumble the feta.
• 5
  Once the lentils have rested, mix in the tomatoes and divide this mixture onto plates. Garnish with pieces of roasted pumpkin, sprinkle with crumbled feta and spring onion, marvel at the colorful contrast it creates, and serve immediately.