Italian Food Recipes

Pumpkin is a fruit suitable for any type of Italian recipes as you have seen in the recipes that I presented in the previous days. Here I prepare fried pumpkin that is an ideal side dish or can be also a delicious appetizer; I use the Mantua pumpkin cut in thin slices and I accompanied the sweet taste of pumpkin with the spicy taste of rosemary in order to obtain an appetizing recipe. The slices of pumpkin fried should be crunchy, to obtain this result you might pay attention to the quantity of extra virgin olive oil in which the pumpkin is fried: don’t cover completely the slices of pumpkin otherwise they’ll become too soft.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 – 6 people):
500 g of Pumpkin
Extra virgin olive oil to fry
2 Cloves of Garlic
Rosemary
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Alto Adige Traminer aromatico Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean, peel and cut in thin slices the pumpkin.


Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, place in it the garlic and let them golden,

then remove it and place in the oil the slices of pumpkin with the rosemary. Sprinkle the pumpkin with salt and pepper and let them fry, this takes few minutes because the pumpkin has a tender pulp.

When the pumpkin is ready place the slices over a sheet of kitchen paper in order to remove the excess of oil. You can serve them hot or cold.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

Here another good Italian recipes made with pumpkin: risotto with pumpkin. This dish is another traditional recipe of Lombardia easy and fast to prepare, you need only rice and a good pumpkin: the better type to use is the type of Mantua with pulp and rind orange and a sweet taste. In this recipe it isn’t necessary to cook pumpkin separately because its pulp is so tender that the cooking time of risotto is enough. If you like a mellow flavor you can prepare this risotto simply with pumpkin but if you like a spicy taste you can season the dish with the addition of rosemary and some Parmesan sprinkled on.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320 g of Rice
500 g of Pumpkin
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
20 g of Butter
1 / 4 of Onion chopped
1 / 2 Glass of White wine
FOR BROTH:
500 ml of water
1 / 2 of Onion cut in big pieces
1 Carrot cut in big pieces
1 Celery cut in big pieces
1 Potato cut in big pieces
Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Colli Morenici Mantovani del Garda bianco Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with preparing the broth: place in pan the water, the big pieces of onion, celery, carrot, potato and salt and let the water boil.

When the water boil begin to prepare the risotto. Clean, peel and cut the pumpkin in small cubes.

Place in a pan the extra virgin olive oil, the butter and the chopped onion and let it golden

then add the pieces of pumpkin and cook for about 5 – 8 minutes.

Now add the rice and make it roast for some minute, add the wine and let it evaporate.

Start to add 1 ladle of hot broth stirring until it is absorbed; continue in this way, adding ladles of hot broth, for about 15 - 18 minutes.

At the end of the cooking the rice must be slightly firm to the teeth. Serve hot and if you like you can sprinkle the risotto with some Parmesan.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Pumpkin is one of the most traditional Italian foods used in Italy for the preparation of delicious Italian recipes; from autumn to spring the pumpkin appears in the Italian recipes with its sweetness and its nutritive properties, adult and child appreciate it and it’s easy and cheap to cook. Pumpkin is particularly used in the Mantua cuisine, where it becomes the main ingredients for the preparation of special menu, like the menu of the Christmas Eve that is composed of the Mantua traditional pumpkin recipe:Tortelli di Zucca

This delicious recipe is prepared not only in occasion of Christmas Eve but also the 17th of January in occasion of the feast of Saint’ Anthony that is famous for the proverb “Sant’Antoni da la barba bianca mi magni i turtei a ti gnanca” that means “Saint Anthony with white beard, I eat tortelli and you don’t”; the 15th of August and the 11th of November for San Martino feast. In the tortelli recipe the sweet taste of pumpkin’s pulp, in particular the type Marina di Chioggia, is accompanied with the taste of amaretti (Italian biscuits) and the delicious taste of the pears mustard of Mantua, you can serve tortelli seasoned with melted butter and sage. You can find this recipe in the list of the first courses recipes: here I describe the traditional stuffing of tortelli but you can also make changes. For example you can use the mustard of apple instead of the one of pears, you can add pine kernels, peel of lemon and spout. You can also change the seasoning making a one red seasoning prepared with tomatoes and bacon.
The pumpkin is ideal for the preparation of any type of tasteful dishes: from appetizers to first courses, from second courses to desserts. To obtain a good pumpkin Italian recipe you should be sure that the pumpkin is good, in particular the pumpkin might have these characteristics: you might check if the pumpkin is mature, beating on it with the hand, if it makes an empty and dull sound the pumpkin is ready. Then you should be sure that the pulp is fresh and thick, the stalk is soft and well attached to the pumpkin, the rind is clean and without bruises, the seeds aren’t black. Also consider that the thickness of the pulp is directly proportional to the quality. You can use all the parts of pumpkin, the pulp, the flowers and the seeds, to prepare delicious pumpkin Italian recipes
Others traditional pumpkin first course recipes include Gnocchi di Zucca seasoned with a delicate cream of ricotta cheese;

risotto with pumpkin;

soup of pumpkin, or minestrone with pumpkin accompanied with others vegetables. Therefore you can use the flowers of pumpkin to prepare delicious sauce as seasoning for pasta based recipes. Pumpkin is an ideal food also for the preparation of second courses like slices of fried pumpkin spiced with rosemary,


flat bread with pumpkin that is a dish that comes from Sestri Levante in Liguria where this recipe has been invented, the best pumpkin to prepare it is that round and lumpy; parmigiana pumpkin with Fontina cheese; stuffed flowers or fritters of flowers that are similar to the fritters made with flowers of zucchini; delicious flan of pumpkin and many others. For its sweetness flavour pumpkin is an ideal ingredients also for dessert recipes: my favourite dessert recipes with pumpkin are the tart of pumpkin and apples and the biscuits of pumpkin that are traditionally made in occasion of Halloween and they are so simple to prepare that are ideal also for child. Pumpkin can be used to prepare conserves like jam or mustard or to prepare the “zuccata” that are candied pieces of pumpkin used as piping of dessert. The seeds of pumpkin can be used to obtain oil or generally they are dried and roasted and use as appetizers.
Pumpkin is traditional fruit used for many Italian recipes and traditional fairs about pumpkins are organized during the year in many villages of Italy, where you can taste delicious pumpkin recipes. Two of these fairs are:
- Fair of Mantua that happens from 8th September 2007 to 9th December 2007 during which exhibitions, courses and menu with traditional pumpkin recipes are organized in the farmer court.
- Fair of pumpkin in Venzone (province of Udine) that is the 27th and 28th of October; in this occasion the village prepares itself for the fair: in the square, in the windows shop, on the newsstand there are pumpkins everywhere. Pumpkins decorated and carved are exhibited and the most weight will reward. Pumpkins recipes are prepared and people can taste them.
Pumpkin is a low-calorie fruit (15 calorie each 100 g) because it contains a high concentration of water (93%) and low quantity of sugar. It, as all the orange and yellow fruits, is rich of vitamin A and C, beta-carotene, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and many fibbers; it has an anti-oxidant action and prevents the ageing. The seeds instead contain protein and oily substances.
Pumpkin is a fruit that belongs to the genus Cucurbit and to the family of Cucurbitaceous; it is a berry with a fleshy pulp in which the seeds are dipped. The plant of pumpkin is vigorous with long crawl shaft or short shaft, according to the variety. The leafs and the stalk are scraggy and cover of hair. The flowers are big, of yellow colour and they can be male or female on the same plant. It is a plant easy to cultivate, that doesn’t need excessive quantity of fertilizer and it is able to stand to droughts, diseases and insects. Pumpkin needs a mild weather with a temperature from 10 to 20-25° C. It can be cultivated in any type of ground, but if you want to obtain the best result the ideal ground might be soften, fresh, organic, sunny and with acidic pH. The period of cultivation change according to the region but generally it begins in spring from April to May and the fruits become ready in summer and autumn. The plants need normal quantity of warm water during the germination and a big quantity of warm water in the following phase. The maturation of the pumpkin starts with the beginning of the summer period and continue also in autumn, the pumpkins result mature generally 150 days after the seeding when the plants become dry and the fruits big. When the pumpkins are mature, you can harvest them and then expose them to sun to complete the maturation. After the harvesting the pumpkins can be preserved in dark, fresh and dry ambient, and they traditionally must be eaten before Carnival. The pieces of raw pumpkin are preserved in fridge enveloped in film and must be eaten in few days because the pumpkin easily dehydrate or you can freeze them.
Pumpkin probably comes from Central America, in particular from Mexico where in 6000 – 5000 B.C. the first seeds of pumpkin were found. The first to use pumpkin has been the Indian, which were able to use it as a main ingredient of their diet, and they were able to cultivate it. Then from America pumpkin diffused in all Europe. A great quantity of varieties of pumpkins exists, each of which is different for shape, colour and taste. The most know are:
- the variety Cucurbit Maxima or sweet pumpkin is the most diffuse; it includes pumpkin of different shapes and dimensions like the big winter pumpkin, the oval shape pumpkin, or the pumpkin with shape of turban. Its rind is green and thick and can be smooth or with longitudinal stripes.


Its weight can reach also 80 kg and its pulp is sweet and floury with a yellow-orange colour and white seeds. This is the kind of pumpkin that is most used for the preparation of Italian recipes, in particular the variety cucurbit maxima includes the following sub-types: Marina di Chioggia (with green fruits) ideal for tortelli and gnocchi, Quintale and the Melone Gigante (both very big), Hubbard (tapering) and Butternut (with pear shape).
- the variety Cucurbit Moschata has a stretched shape with enlargement at the extremity. It has medium dimensions, its colour can be dark green or orange



and its pulp is tender and sweet. This kind is traditionally used with other vegetables for the preparation of pumpkin soup and minestrone. This variety includes Piena di Chioggia, Lunga invernale di Napoli and Tromboncino di Albenga.
- the variety Cucurbit Lagenaria is the traditional ornamental pumpkin. When it is mature it is almost without pulp and with rind and pulp hard. This type of pumpkin can be used to obtain flasks or vessels, it can contain wine or water indeed it is called the “Pumpkin for wine”. In Africa this type of pumpkin, cut in half, is used to realize spoons and ladles.
- the type of pumpkin called Cucurbit Ficifoli, that grows in Asia, has a pulp that when it is cooked, it breaks up and makes filaments like angel’s hair that are traditionally used as spaghetti, for this reason this type of pumpkin is also called Spaghetti Pumpkin.
- the variety Cucurbit Pepo that includes the ordinary pumpkin of zucchini.
The sub-types of pumpkin most used in Italy for the preparation of Italian recipes due to their particular taste are: - Marina di Chioggia cultivated in the northern part of Italy, in particular in the province of Piacenza and Mantua. This type of pumpkin is ideal for recipes such as gnocchi, tortelli and pasta because its pulp is thick and sugary.
- Lunga di Napoli (Long of Naples) cultivated in the southern part of Italy
- Zucca Lunga invernale (winter pumpkin)
- Zucca Quintale
- Lagenaria particularly used as ornament.
Pumpkin is an ideal ingredient for the preparation of Italian recipes, but it can be useful also for the preparation of cosmetic, natural medicine, hand-crafted object and for the realization of the traditional Jack-o'-lantern, the traditional lantern of the Halloween feast. Pumpkin is an important fruit also for the care of the body and to preserve health. It is possible to prepare with the pulp of the pumpkin face pack that make the skin more smooth and clean: to prepare it mix the pulp of raw pumpkin with the seeds and some honey. It also can stimulate tan thank to the presence of vitamin A. Furthermore the pumpkin has digestive, refreshing and anti-tumoral action because it contains high quantity of carotenoidi. The pulp can be used as soothing for the cutaneous inflammation instead the rind can be used for small burn and the extract can be used to solve gastric problem and for the treatment of diabetes and insomnia.

Another good Italian recipe with pumpkin as main ingredient is the gnocchi of pumpkin with sauce of ricotta cheese and cream. As the ravioli of pumpkin also this recipe is typical of Mantua in the northern part of Italy. This is a simple and fast recipe to prepare.








INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)
700 g of Pumpkin
200 g of Ricotta Cheese
100 ml of Cream
150 g of Flour
1 Egg
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

WINE: Lambrusco Mantovano DOC (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water boil for gnocchi. Peel the pumpkin, cut it in pieces, place them in a pan with some water and let them cook for about 15 minutes or until they become soft.

Drain the pumpkin, place it in a bowl and reduce it in pulp. Place in a pan the butter and let it melt, then add the pulp of pumpkin, some salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.

After this time put the mixture in a bowl and let it cool. When the mixture is cool, add in it the flour, the egg

and mix all together in order to obtain a soft dough as shown in the picture below. Now prepare the sauce.

In a pan place the cream, the ricotta cheese and some thyme.

Cook for about 5 – 8 minutes and at the end add some pepper and nutmeg.

Now cook the gnocchi in this way: put spoonfuls of the mixture of pumpkin in the water when it boils and when they raise over the surface they are ready.

This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is a typical Italian recipe that comes from Mantua in the Northern part of Italy. This Italian dish is particular: indeed it is made of pumpkin that it has a sweet taste and with mostarda (pickled candied fruit in a spicy syrup) that it has a hot taste. For this reason this recipe has a bittersweet taste. This dish is also a typical Italian recipe of the Christmas period in particular it is prepared in the occasion of the Christmas Eve.








INGREDIENTS (for 6 – 8 people)
FOR THE DOUGH
500 g of Flour
4 Eggs
Some warm water

FOR THE FILLING
500 g of Pumpkin
150 g of Mostarda of pears from Mantua (pickled candied fruit in a spicy syrup)
100 g of Macaroons
Some nutmeg
1 / 2 Lemon peel grated
Some breadcrumbs

FOR THE DRESSING
30 – 40 g of Butter
10-12 Sage leafs

PREPARATION TIME: 2 hours

COOKING TIME: 10 – 12 minutes

WINE: Lambrusco Mantovano (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with the preparation of the filling. Peel the pumpkin, cut it in pieces, place them in a pan with some water and let them cook for about 15 minutes or until they become soft.

Drain the pumpkin, place it in a bowl and reduce it in pulp.

Then chop the mostarda and the macaroons, add them to the pumpkin
together with the lemon peel grated, a pinch of nutmeg, salt pepper and some breadcrumbs.

The filling is ready non let it stand for about 1 hour and 30 minutes
In the meantime prepare the dough. Place on a floured worktop the flour as a fountain, add in the middle of it a pinch of salt, the eggs, and some warm water and begin to knead.


Knead until you obtain homogeneous and elastic dough. Cover it with a towel and let it stand for about 30 minutes.

Let salted water boil for tortelli. After 30 minutes roll up the dough with a rolling pin to a sheet of thin thick.

Cut the pastry in rectangles of 10 cm, put in the middle of them a teaspoon of the filling


and close them folding in half and sealing the edges with a fork.


When all the tortelli are ready cook them for about 10 – 12 minutes in the salted water. In the meantime place in a pan the butter, sage leafs and let the butter melt.

Drain them with the help of a skimmer in order to not break the tortelli. Place 5 – 6 tortelli in a dish and pour on them some butter and sage. Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!