4-Hour Fire Pumpkin with Smoked Honeycomb

4-Hour Fire Pumpkin

A smoky-sweet, utterly transformative way to honour the humble pumpkin.

There’s something magical that happens when pumpkin is slowly cooked over fire. Left whole, nestled into embers for four hours, the skin chars, the flesh caramelises, and the result is something truly sublime – sweet, smoky, tender. Finished with salty feta, toasted seeds, fresh seasonal herbs, local olive oil and smoked honeycomb… this is a feast that feels ancient and alive.

I spent the day cooking over fire at Mangaroa Farms, a regenerative market garden, just over the hill from Upper Hutt, their produce is insanely delicious, which made this garden to table feast all the more enjoyable.

The honey smoked honey comb is from my friends at Honey By The Sea. The smokiness is subtle, not at all overpowering. I highly recommend it for something a bit special. It really bought this already insane dish to sublime heights.

Here’s hot to make my 4-Hour Fire Pumpkin

Ingredients

• 1 medium or large whole pumpkin
• A generous chunk of good-quality feta
• A handful of pumpkin seeds
• Extra virgin olive oil (the best you can find)
• A handful of curly parsley (in winter) or basil (in summer)
• A squeeze of fresh or lightly charred lemon
• A small piece of honeycomb (smoked or plain)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Prepare your fire
   Build a fire and let it burn down until you have a hot bed of glowing embers. You want steady, consistent heat without active flames. You will need to feed the fire for the duration of this cooking process.
   
2. Cook the pumpkin
   Place the whole pumpkin beside the fire at first, letting it warm gently as the flames die down. Once you’ve got embers, nestle the pumpkin directly onto them. Cook for approximately 4 hours, turning it every 30 minutes to ensure even charring and softening. The skin should blacken and lightly crack, while the inside becomes sweet and spoon-tender.
   
3. Toast the seeds
   While the pumpkin cooks, place a dry pan over the embers. Add the pumpkin seeds and toast until golden, puffed, and popping. Set aside.
   
4. Check for doneness
   When the pumpkin yields easily to the touch all over, it’s ready. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly. Cut open and scoop out the seeds (discard or compost), then carefully scoop out large chunks of the flesh. Leave a little charred skin for depth and texture, but discard most.
   
5. Assemble
   Arrange the pumpkin flesh on a serving platter. Season generously with sea salt and black pepper. Crumble over the feta, drizzle with olive oil, scatter your herbs, squeeze over some lemon juice and finish with small chunks of honeycomb. Serve warm.
   

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Note:
Don’t have a fire? No problem. You can roast a whole pumpkin in your oven at 180°C (350°F) for 1.5–2 hours until soft. You’ll lose the smoke but still gain sweetness and depth.