Cucurbita fricta (Baked Pumpkin) with Moretum paste

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• ½ kg pumpkin(s) (bottle gourd, preferably zucchini)
• some flour for dusting
• some olive oil for frying
• 150 g cheese (Pecorino), grated
• 2 cloves garlic, to taste
• 150 ml olive oil
• 150 ml verjuice
• 150 g almonds, unpeeled
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

Baked pumpkin, Italy 1475

Take the gourds or zucchini and cut them lengthwise into strips. You don’t need to pre-cook the zucchini like you would with pumpkin (about 5 minutes, then let them dry briefly); you can salt them and flour them right away. Heat the oil and fry the strips until golden brown. Serve with “moretum,” a historic cheese paste that used to be prepared in a mortar. Today, it’s easier. Combine pecorino, garlic, olive oil, verjus, whole almonds, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend to make a pesto. Delicious, simple, and traditional. A pumpkin dish from pre-Columbian times. Since pumpkin is said to have originated in the New World, this recipe from Bartolomeo Platina (1421-1481) seems particularly interesting.