Alice Zaslavsky's one-pan pumpkin parma, from her new book

Alice Zaslavsky is back with the next recipe she is sharing with the SideStall community, and this one comes with a new book. Alice, one of Australia's best-loved food writers and broadcasters, has a brand new cookbook out, Weeknights with Alice, and the recipe she is sharing from it is a one-pan pumpkin parma.

It is cosy, cheesy and mostly hands-off. Pumpkin and cherry tomatoes under a crunchy panko top, the kind of dinner you want when the evenings are still a bit cool. The idea is the same as always: you find the produce local, and Alice gives you something worth doing with it.

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One-pan pumpkin parma

From Weeknights with Alice by Alice Zaslavsky. Serves 4 to 6.

For a midweek vego parma, pumpkin really pops! Microwaving it first helps to halve the cooking time, but if you're zap-less, just bake the pumpkin longer until it collapses (another 20 minutes should do it). The breadcrumbs help bulk out the mix and make the top terrifically textural. I prefer panko for their shape and crunch, but if you've got some homemade breadcrumbs handy, use them first! Basil stems can vary based on variety and season, chop them in only if you can bend them easily. If you've got some PG paste (page 214), you could stir it through instead of, or as well as, the fresh herbs. A crisp radicchio salad with a splash of zippy red wine vinegar would be an ideal side here.

Ingredients

• ½ Kent pumpkin (squash; about 900 g/2 lb), washed and cut into 2 cm (¾ in) cubes (no need to peel)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Herby tomato sauce

• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 x 400 g (14 oz) tins whole peeled cherry tomatoes
• ¼ bunch parsley, stems and leaves finely chopped
• ¼ bunch basil, leaves and softer stems finely chopped
• pinch of dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt flakes
• ¼ teaspoon brown sugar

Cheesy panko topping

• 2 cups (120 g) panko crumbs
• 200 g (7 oz) firm mozzarella, coarsely grated
• ½ cup (50 g) coarsely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil

Home stretch

• extra virgin olive oil

Method

Start the sauce. Toss the onion, garlic and olive oil in a wide shallow casserole dish or large deep baking dish. Whack into your cold oven, then crank the temperature to 200°C (400°F) and leave for about 15 minutes, so the onion can start to soften and caramelise.

Zap the pumpkin. Meanwhile, tumble the pumpkin into a mixing bowl that comfortably fits it all. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt flakes, add the olive oil and toss to coat. Transfer to a microwave-safe container, keeping the schmutzy bowl handy. Cover and microwave for 10 minutes on high. The pumpkin will collapse and let out some sweet liquid.

Cheesy crumbs. In your schmutzy bowl, toss together all the cheesy panko topping ingredients. Set aside.

Finish off the sauce. Once the oven is heated and the onion mix is translucent and starting to caramelise, pour in the tomatoes, sloshing out each tin with a tablespoon or so of water and pouring that in too. Stir in the remaining sauce ingredients, then taste for seasoning. Whack a lid on (or cover with foil) and place back in the oven to heat through.

Put humpty together. When the pumpkin's done its microwave macarena, stir it through your tomato sauce, along with half the cheesy crumbs. Top with the remaining cheesy crumbs. Cover again and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden melty and the dish is bubbling on the edges. Finally, crank the temperature to 240°C (475°F) or flick on the grill (broil) setting for 5 minutes to get some serious bronze on the crumb. If you can, let the dish sit out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving. This will help the sauce thicken up more … and your diners will be less likely to burn their mouths!

Bring it home. Serve drizzled with a little of your best extra virgin olive oil and a little salt flake glitter from a height.

Double duty. The parma can be reheated in the microwave with some more zapping, or in the oven, from cold. Once the oven's warm, the dish will be heated through too!

Images and text from Weeknights with Alice by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Murdoch Books RRP $45.00.

This recipe is from Weeknights with Alice by Alice Zaslavsky. You can find it, and a whole lot of smart weeknight cooking, in her cookbooks at alicezaslavsky.com/books.

Where to find the fresh bits

The pumpkin is the hero, so it is worth cooking this one from a stall. We cannot see what is on a table right now, so every note below says may be available. Check the stall page before you drive.

• Pumpkin is the one to chase: may be available from From the garden near Glass House Mountains QLD, KQ Produce near Deanmill WA, or Hoskin Harvest near Lewiston SA.
• Garlic for the sauce: may be available from Haaseford Farms Garlic near Ironbank SA.
• Fresh herbs, parsley and basil, from a greens grower near you. The recipe uses tinned cherry tomatoes, so that is one thing you can grab from the pantry.

Finding the ingredients this week

• Open the map. SideStall shows the stalls near you by distance, with sellers who are open now up front.
• Search the ingredient. Type pumpkin or garlic and search matches what sellers have actually listed, with photos and prices.
• Check the stall page before you drive: what they have listed. Hours and payment are in the app, and directions once the seller shows their address.
• Favourite the good ones, so the next shop starts where this one finished.

No one near you yet? SideStall grows gate by gate, so it is worth another look in a few weeks.

That is the second of the recipes Alice is sharing with us this season, credited to her, tied to what is fresh near you. See the rest of the blog.

Download the SideStall app, free on iPhone and Android, and see what is on the tables near you.

Grow it yourself? List your stall on SideStall. It is free to start, there is no monthly fee to take payments on any plan including Free, and a small SideStall platform fee plus card processing applies only when a buyer actually pays in the app. Set up your stall.