To my mind, pumpkin looks interesting but has little flavour at all and is well suited to being spiced up and heavilly seasoned.

Ingredients - serves 4 as a side dish

450g of pumpkin, peeled, seeded & diced (about 2cm)
1 green chilli, seeded & finely chopped
2cm cube fresh ginger, finely grated
200g spinach, washed, woody stalks removed
4 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
1-2 tsp course sea salt
few drops of rice wine vinegar

Method

Finely chop the chilli and set aside with the grated ginger. Blanch the spinach for 3-4 minutes and then drain and squeeze out excess water, chop and reserve.

Dry fry the Szechuan pepper for 2 minutes and using a pestle and mortar grind them together with course sea salt crystals until cracked but not finely ground.

Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry the chilli and ginger for a minute before adding the pumpkin dice. Continue for 5-6 minutes to colour and cook through the dice then stir in the spinach to reheat. Finally add a splash of rice wine vinegar and season to taste with the Szechuan pepper and salt mixture.