Noodle and pumpkin salad

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 250 g pasta (conchiglie)
• some salt
• 700 g Hokkaido pumpkin(s)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp herbal salt
• 1 class can/n chickpeas (approx. 240 g drained weight)
• 2 red chili peppers
• 100 g spring onions
• 60 g capers (jar)
• 50 g olives (Kalamata olives))
• 30 g pine nuts
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• 2 tsp mustard, medium hot
• 1 tbsp cane sugar
• 4 tbsp liquid (caper liquid)
• some sea salt and black pepper from the mill
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 75 g feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 2 hours

with chickpeas, capers, olives and feta

For the salad, preheat the oven to 180°C. Cook the conchiglie in plenty of boiling, lightly salted water until al dente. Then drain and set aside. Wash the pumpkin, halve it, remove the seeds, cut it into 1.5 cm cubes, and mix it in a bowl with the olive oil and herb salt. Then spread it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and cook in the preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes until al dente. Then remove and let cool. Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas and let them drain. Clean the chili peppers, cut them lengthwise, remove the seeds, rinse them, and dice very finely. Clean the spring onions, rinse them, and cut them into fine rings. Drain the capers, reserving the caper liquid and roughly chopping the capers. Drain the olives and cut them into rings. In a non-stick pan, roast the pine nuts without adding any fat until golden brown, then set aside. In a large salad bowl, combine the chickpeas, chili cubes, chopped capers, spring onion and olive rings, and toasted pine nuts with the conchiglie and pumpkin cubes. For the dressing, peel and finely dice the garlic clove, and mix well with the mustard, brown sugar, caper juice, a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of sea salt, lemon juice, olive oil, and 3 tablespoons of water. Spread the dressing evenly over the salad and mix well. Cover and refrigerate the salad for 1 hour to allow it to marinate. Season to taste before serving, adjust seasoning if desired, and garnish with the crumbled feta cheese.