Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Pumpkin

Instructions

• 1
  Briefly sort the lentils, rinse them in a colander, pour into a saucepan, cover with enough cold water, and bring to a boil. If you have 5 extra minutes, drain the boiling water, cover the lentils with new cold water, and bring to a boil once more. Add thyme and simmer gently for 25 minutes.
• 2
  Peel the pumpkin with a peeler, cut it in half, and use a spoon to remove all the stringy pulp and seeds. Cut the cleaned pumpkin into 4-5 cm long fries with varying degrees of curvature. Mix with two tablespoons of olive oil, a large pinch of salt, spread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place into an oven preheated to 200-220 degrees.
• 3
  Meanwhile, peel the onion and garlic and finely chop both. 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 puree, two tablespoons of water, and let it simmer gently until the lentils are cooked.
• 4
  Once 25 minutes have passed, remove the lentils from the heat, drain them, and pour into the prepared tomato sauce. Mix and add more salt to taste. Let 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 among plates. Garnish with pieces of roasted pumpkin, sprinkle with crumbled feta and spring onion, marvel at the color contrast it created, and serve immediately.