Save the carbs for dessert! Here’s a macro-friendly special occasion dinner that is light on calories without sacrificing on taste.

Time: 3/5
Make the pumpkin purée ahead of time to save yourself some trouble

Effort: 3/5
Using a stick blender means more cleanup, but you can make up for it by making more food while you’re at it.

Savoury and Sweet

In the same creative spirit that gave you Pork Chops and Roast Cabbage, I experimented with serving steak with a pumpkin purée instead of the more traditional potato or pasta side dishes. It keeps the calories down, so I have more opportunities to play around with more decadent desserts or starters without the meal ballooning into a life choice that catches up to you later.

A spur of the moment decision led me to enhance the purée with some Parmesan cheese, with surprisingly good results! The cheese tipped the pumpkin into a territory that straddles the line between savoury and sweet, which contrasted with the rich butter-basted steak very nicely.

The pumpkin purée is also nice because it can be made ahead of time, which reduces the stress and the time drain of trying to put everything together on game day. In fact, this post is the second of a two part series, along with the earlier Make Ahead Leek and Potato Soup, where I show how I put together a two course dinner over two days.

And since I had two relatively thin oyster blade steaks (also known as flat iron steaks), I also experimented with dry brining them on a rack in the fridge a day ahead of time, to see if it helped me get a good crust without overcooking them. It worked as intended, and perhaps too well: the steaks ended up being medium rare, which is quite a bit south of how we usually like our steaks.

But overall, it was a great date night because I could frontload all the time and effort. It’s on days like this where I increasingly appreciate having the skills and confidence to make nice dinners at home instead of paying for someone’s else’s overhead. Except when the food is really, really, really good.

Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 2

Dramatis Personae

Served two.

• 900g pumpkin

Yielded 800g after I scooped out the seeds and peeled it, if you must know. Peeling and cubing them up is the higher effort, higher reward way to go about this because you get more surface area to develop roasty toasty flavours. 

But if you want to go full minimalist, you could roast the pumpkin unpeeled for an hour or so, until the flesh is cooked to smithereens and the peel just comes right off. Roast it for long enough, and the pumpkin will basically purée itself.

• 2 tbsp olive oil

For roasting the pumpkin, dressing the salad, as well as for garnishing the leek and potato soup. It doesn’t have to be the fancy kind, since you’ll be heating it up for a long time.

• 40g Parmesan cheese

I buy mine pre-grated. I know it’s better freshly grated from a block, but pre-rated is easier to use so this way I actually cook with it instead of letting it sit in the fridge until it grows mold. Strange problem to have, I know, but I mostly cook Asian recipes where cheese isn’t really a thing.

• 2x 170g oyster blade steaks

Not the first cut you would think of when considering steak, especially because the tendon in the middle tends to be tough and needs to be cut (or chewed) around. But these were on sale a while ago and they’ve been sitting in my freezer since forever, so here they are.

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil 

To sear the steaks with, so pick something that can stand up to the heat. I like peanut or canola oil, which is also what I use for my stir fries.

• 1 tbsp butter 
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 sprig of rosemary

To make the steaks extra delicious. I used to have a problem with basting the steaks for too long and overcooking them, but it seems like I overcompensated and went too far in the opposite direction this time.

• 100g salad greens
• Olive oil, fish sauce and vinegar to taste

Fish sauce in salad dressing is one of my favourite tricks. You get the salt and umami from using anchovies, but in a shelf-stable and liquid form that disperses and mixes well. No more worrying about how to use up the rest of the anchovies in the can, or messing around with the oil it’s packed in!

• Salt and pepper to taste

Including for the pumpkin purée, because although the Parmesan is salty it might still need some help. Taste and adjust until you like it – you are, after all, the Billy Mays of your pumpkin purées!

Executive summary

1. The day before, preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Wash, peel and cube up the pumpkin.
2. Toss pumpkin with olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking sheet lined with foil and parchment paper. Roast for 30-45 minutes, or until tender.
3. Meanwhile, salt and pepper the steaks on both sides. Set on a wire rack over a dish, and leave in the fridge uncovered overnight.
4. Once pumpkin is tender, allow to cool before puréing. Work in batches if necessary. Mix in Parmesan, adjust for seasoning, and refrigerate overnight.
5. On the day, whisk the salad dressing ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Wash and dress the salad.
6. Plate the pumpkin purée, and microwave to reheat.
7. Sear the steaks on both sides in a well-preheated cast iron pan. Plate up and serve hot.

Play by Play

The smaller the pieces, the quicker the pumpkin roasts. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and into the oven.

See you later!

The oven leaves my hands free to salt the steaks. Into the fridge they go, uncovered, to dry out.

Once the pumpkin is tender and cooled down, it’s time to blend and season. I’m doing this right after using the immersion blender for the leek and potato soup, so I don’t have to wash it twice. A bit of potato won’t ruin the pumpkin purée.

Prep is now ready. All there is to do is wait until tomorrow.

Alright, show time! I’ll pop the soup in the oven first to get it going while I sear the steaks.

First thing I notice is how awesome the sear is! This fridge drying trick seems to work very well. I dressed my salad in between flipping the steaks.

Plating up and microwaving the pumpkin purée while the steaks rest. A bonus of microwaving the purée with the plate is that the plate also gets hot, and helps keep the meal warm.

Ok, so maybe the fridge drying method worked a bit too well. The crust was very well developed, but the steaks were still quite rare. Perhaps I could have used a lower heat for longer.

Dinner is served! Along with a DIY menu, which was very well received.

Put effort into your plating, ladies and gentlemen. It shows that you care!

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