© Frank H. Jump
Over 41 days ago, Vincenzo brought home this beautiful large pumpkin for the porch as our annual fall decoration. I shot it with my iPhone and posted it on Instagram. We don’t carve them or mar them. We took it in before the first major frost and finally yesterday we said, “We have to do something with this freakin’ pumpkin.” What we usually do is hack it up and boil it and put it in freezer bags. This time we cut it in half, removed all the seeds and washed, dried and salted them. We baked the seeds at 350ºF for twenty minutes as we continued to prepare the pumpkin flesh which we cut into large two inch wide wedges without peeling, laid them in rows in a baking sheet and baked them at 350ºF for just a bit over an hour after the seeds were done. We dumped them into a large clear plastic bag and covered it in a towel and let it steam in its own heat. Later after they were still hot but not too hot to handle, I cut off the skin and cut the wedges into inch thick chunks into a glass bowl and let them cool. Most of them we put into freezer bags and froze. The pumpkin is still under-cooked but excellent for throwing into soups and stews.
© Frank H. Jump
Peasant food is one of the cuisines Vincenzo has long savored, bringing back memories when his mother would stretch a meal for five and yet fulfill a dietary and nutritional standard. Polenta is one of those foods that has since become elevated to high cost sides in Italian restaurants. Pumpkin or zucca is another one of those peasant meals Enzo’s mom would make for her hungry brood. This stew is very easy. Just coarsely chop two large red onions, some Yukon potatoes and chopped whole tomatoes, salt pepper to taste and some water. Bring to a boil and throw in the pumpkin that has been cut into inch cubes. You need just enough water to cover and after it has boiled long enough for the potatoes to start to fall apart a bit, shut if off and let it sit. Mmm mmm mmm- so freakin’ good. What’s so freakin’ great is how economical and highly nutritious these meals are. OK, fried anything tastes good but this is just yummy.
© Frank H. Jump
Enzo suggested I cut the inch thick slices in half and flour them with salt and pepper. Then I soaked them in egg and fried them gently on medium flame with crushed red pepper and chopped garlic in olive oil. I turned them on both sides and even stood them up on their sides to get the edges nice and brown. They still seemed a bit hard so I drained them in brown paper towels and put them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for another twenty minutes at 350ºF and drained them on brown paper again. So freakin’ yummy. I could imagine that you can skip the garlic and red pepper and put some sugar and cinnamon in the flour before frying and then after they were finally done, sprinkle them with more sugar and cinnamon for a sweet fried pumpkin treat.
