Vegetarian chickpea and quinoa burgers with roasted pumpkin

A great midweek meal for burger-loving vegos, these zesty quinoa numbers are a great reminder that meat doesn’t have to be the centre of every bun. Make a double batch and freeze the leftovers as they’ll keep well for two months. For the vegans out there, simply replace the yoghurt with a tomato chutney or salsa.

A veggie burger can be just as good as the meaty options. Credit: Benito Martin

• makes

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ¼ cup red quinoa
• 400 g pumpkin, skin on, cut into 1cm-thick slices 
• 1½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp ground cumin (or seeds, if you prefer)
• salt and black pepper
• 400 g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ⅓ cup parsley leaves, plus extra to serve
• juice and finely grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1 egg
• 1½ tbsp tahini
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) yoghurt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220˚C. Combine quinoa, a pinch of salt and 250 ml water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 12–15 minutes until tender. Drain any residual water.

Combine the pumpkin in a bowl with 3 teaspoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon cumin, season to taste. Arrange the pumpkin on a baking paper-lined oven tray and roast for 20–25 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.

Place the chickpeas, parsley, lemon rind and remaining cumin in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Add the egg and 1 tablespoon tahini and process until combined. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the cooked quinoa. Season to taste and mix until well combined. Shape into 4 burgers.

Combine the yoghurt, remaining tahini and 2 teaspoons water until combined. Add 3–4 teaspoons lemon juice, season to taste and mix until combined, adding more tahini or lemon juice to taste.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the burgers for 3–4 minutes on each side until golden.

Construct the burgers, layering the pumpkin on the patties, scatter with parsley and drizzle over the yoghurt sauce.

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Lynsey Fryers.

Tio decanter (comes with glass) and Tio tumblers from Country Road.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.