Fried pumpkin slices, marinated in sweet and sour sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg pumpkin flesh, peeled
• 4 medium-sized onions, peeled and cut into half rings
• 100 ml balsamic vinegar, white
• 1 tbsp sugar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 50 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 5 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

a Sicilian recipe from my grandma

Cut the peeled pumpkin into slices about 1 cm thick, and halve larger pieces. My pieces are about 10 cm long. Add olive oil to two pans, covering the bottom of the pan, and heat. Once the oil is hot, fry the onion in one pan until lightly browned, and fry the pumpkin slices in batches in the other pan. Add only one layer of pumpkin to the pan at a time, turning each slice after about 2-3 minutes. The pumpkin slices should be cooked through, but not dark brown. Repeat this process with the pumpkin until all the pumpkin is used up. Drain the already cooked slices in a sieve. At the same time, keep an eye on the onions to make sure they don’t turn black. Once the onions have browned and are soft, sprinkle the sugar over them and let them caramelize briefly. Now deglaze with the vinegar and turn off the stove. Let the onion pan stand on the stove with the residual heat. Once all the pumpkin slices are browned, layer the pumpkin and onions alternately in a shallow dish. Start with a layer of pumpkin, season it with salt and pepper, and then scatter the onions over it. Repeat this process until all the pumpkin and onions are used up. Season each layer with salt and pepper, as the pumpkin itself is bland. It tastes good cold or warm and makes a great antipasti. Delicious simply with white bread or grilled meat.