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pumpkin Archives - Dinner in Venice

Venetian Thanksgivukkah Fritters


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Venetian Thanksgivukkah fritters by Dinnerinvenice

With all the hype about Thanksgivukkah this year, I also received a challenge to post something that would be perfect for both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah – and it had to be made with some type of mashed food. I normally panic when I get this kind of requests, but this time it was really brainless. These pumpkin fritters are one of my favorite recipes, and always a huge hit with guests.

venetian Thanksgivukkah Fritters 2 by Dinnerinvenice

Venetian Thanksgivukkah Fritters

Ingredients

  • 1 pound pumpkin or butternut squash, cleaned and diced small
  • 2 eggs
  • grated zest of 2 oranges
  • ¾ cup of sugar and a pinch of salt
  • 1 and ½ cups flour
  • scarce tbsp baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon, if liked
  • 1/3 cup Raisins or Sultanas
  • 1/3 cup grappa or rhum
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup candied citron or lemon (optional), finely chopped
  • Rice bran oil, peanut oil or vegetable oil for deep-frying, at least 3 cups or more
  • Confectioner’s sugar for decorating

Directions

Plump the raisins in the liqueur.

Place the diced squash in a large platter and cover almost completely, leaving a small opening for the steam to come out, and microwave on high for 10 minutes or until very tender (or bake covered for 40 mins in the oven).

Beat the eggs in a food processor with the sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange zest; add the cooked squash and process until smooth.

Drain and pat dry the raisins, and add them to the mix.

Transfer to a large bowl and gradually add the flour (sifted with the baking powder), using an electric or manual whisk.

In a frying pan, heat the oil to frying temperature (you can test it by dropping a small piece of bread in the oil: if bubbles form around the bread, the temperature is right).

Take the batter with a tablespoon, filling it to about ½, and push the batter into the oil with your index finger or a second spoon.

Fry in small batches until golden all over, turning to cook evenly.

Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer onto a platter lined with several layers of paper towel.

Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and serve warm.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2013/11/19/venetian-thanksgivukkah-fritters/

Bittersweet Manicotti with Moscato Wine Sauce


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Bittersweet Manicotti with Moscato Wine by Dinnerinvenice

This October my column in the Jewish Week featured a recipe for butternut squash manicotti with goat cheese and pumpkin. But there are so many versions of these, that I couldn’t resist posting one more! After all, for the past few weeks, I’ve been in a pumpkin frenzy. This time, I also added red radicchio, and a touch of Moscato wine.  The result is slightly bitter, slightly sweet; buttery, creamy, and totally worth the splurge.

Bittersweet manicotti with Moscato Wine Sauce by Dinnerinvenice.com

Bittersweet manicotti with Moscato Wine Sauce

Ingredients

  • 12 lasagna rectangles
  • 1 head radicchio (or just over 1/2 lb)
  • about 2 1/2 cups peeled cubed pumpkin (just over 1/2 lb)
  • 1 cup whole milk ricotta (just over 1/2 lb)
  • 1 scallion
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup moscato wine
  • 3/4 cup clear (no tomato) vegetable broth
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 2 to 3 tbsp slivered almonds
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Chop the radicchio coarsely and cut the pumpkin (or butternut squash) into small cubes.

Heat 1/2 the butter in a skillet and add the minced scallion. Cook on medium/low for 3 minutes. Add The pumpkin and radicchio and cook on medium/high for 10 minutes, stirring often. Allow to cool and combine with the ricotta, salt and pepper.

In a saucepan, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar; add the flour, then gradually the wine and broth until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and cook in a bain marie (http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Double-Boiler-(Bain-Marie) ) over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it thickens; at the end, add the remaining butter to the sauce. Keep warm.

In he meantime, cook the lasagnas according to instructions in a large pot of salted water.

Drain them with a slotted spoon, place them on paper towel (blot them dry on both sides. Spread one side with the ricotta/vegetable cream, leaving 1/2 " margins, and then roll the pasta up on itself into cylinders.

Arrange them on a baking tray lined with parchment, brush them with little melted butter, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for about 15 minutes at 350F in a pre-heated oven. Serve warm, topped with the Moscato sauce and the slivered almonds. You can serve some parmigiano or grana for those who prefer to add some grated cheese on top.

*** if the semi-sweet egg sauce is not your thing, you can top the manicotti with a bechamel sauce or simply some melted butter and grated cheese.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2013/11/01/bittersweet-manicotti-with-moscato/

Jewish Pumpkin Treats


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Jewish Pumpkin Treats by DinnerInVenice 2

This month I really spaced and forgot to post my recipe for my friends’ Linkup! Ops!

The theme is “Spread The Joy”, because everybody loves receiving home-made goodies. Enjoy these easy Jewish Italian Pumpkin (or butternut squash) treats: an old Jewish italian recipe perfect for this season!

Jewish Pumpkin Treats by DinnerInVenice

Jewish Pumpkin Treats

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs cubed butternut squash or pumpkin
  • about 2 cups sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of cinnamon, if liked
  • chocolate sprinkles or/and crystal sugar to decorate

Directions

Bake the pumpkin in the oven at 350 F wrapped in foil until soft.

Mash it and, if possible, weigh it and combine it with the same weight in sugar (if not, use about 2 cups). Cook on low heat in a heavy pot (I like enameled cast iron), stirring constantly, until it starts darkening. Remove from the heat, add the spices if liked, and allow to cool.

With a wet watermelon baller or coffee spoons make small balls, roll them in the crystal sugar first and in the dark chocolate sprinkles second, and arrange in mini baking cups.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2013/09/18/jewish-pumpkin-treats/


Pumpkin Soup with Pomegranate and the meaning of Sukkot


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Sukkot is an eight-day harvest holiday that starts four days after the fast of Yom Kippur; it is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles.
In ancient Israel Jews would build huts (Sukkah = hut) near the end of their fields during harvest season, so that they could spend more time in the fields and harvest more efficiently. For us, Sukkot is a reminder of how our ancestors  lived while wandering in the desert for 40 years (Leviticus 23:42-43), moving from one place to another and using tents (sukkot) for temporary shelter. Associated with these two meanings are three  main traditions:

1 – Building a sukkah.
2 – Eating inside it.
3 – Waving the lulav and etrog.

(above, Sukkot seen by Italian artist Emanuele Luzzati)

Between Yom Kippur and Sukkot , those observant Jews who have the space construct a sukkah in their backyards or decks (in cities like Manhattan or Venice with a lot of small apartments, it’s normal to just share meals in the synagogue’s sukkah). In ancient times most people would just “move” to their sukkas for the whole holiday and even sleep there: nowadays few do, especially in colder climates, but it’s still customary to eat meals in the hut, or at least snacks, reciting a special blessing.

 

Since Sukkot celebrates the harvest, there is a custom of waving the etrog and lulav: (a kind of citron, similar to a big lemon/lime, and a bunch of myrtle,willow and palm twigs). The lulav and etrog are waved in all directions representing God’s power over the whole creation. All kids love decorating the sukkah with drawings, and mine are no exception!

 

As a fall harvest holiday, Sukkot celebrates the bounty of the new crops, and its food traditions revolve around seasonal vegetables and fruit. In this sense, some believe that the pilgrims may have come up with the idea of Thanksgiving inspired by the Biblical descriptions of Sukkot: after all, the Puritan Christians had landed on American shores in search of a place where they would finallly be free to worship as they pleased – a recurrent theme in Jewish history. Besides, just like the ancient Israelites, the pilgrims also had to dwell in makeshift huts (built with the help of the Indians) during their first cold winter in Massachusetts!

That’s why so many of you, unfamiliar with Jewish traditions, will immediately notice how Thanksgiving’s culinary themes mirror those of Sukkot.

All kinds of  vegetables and fruit grace our tables, together with stuffed pies and pastries: stuffing one food inside another is in fact another metaphor for abundance. Many of these symbolic foods have already appeared on our Rosh haShana table, often in the form of a seder (served in a specific order and reciting blessings on each one).

Among these seasonal offerings, both the pumpkin and pomegranate stand out: in Venice we like our favorite local variety of pumpkin so much that we call it “suca baruca” (from the Hebrew “baruch”, “blessed / holy pumpkin”); as to pomegranate, it is so important in the Jewish tradition that Torah scrolls are decorated with silver ones – apparently because this fruit contains more or less 613 seeds, the number of the Mitzvot (commandments)  that Jews are given to observe.

Why not combine these two symbols into a super-pretty and super-festive soup?

 

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 2 lbs cubed pumpkin
  • 1 medium onion, very finely chopped
  • vegetable stock
  • 1/2 orange (or 1/3 cup orange juice)
  • 1 pomegranate (or 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds plus 1/3 cup pomegranate juice)
  • 3 tablespoons mild extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • 2 or 3 tablespoons coarsely ground hazelnuts (optional)

Directions

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and allow it to cook until soft (add little water if it starts sticking). Add the pumpkin and allow it to cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the orange zest and 1/3 cup of pomegranate juice (you can skip the juice if you prefer a less tangy flavor and a lighter color). Keep cooking until the juice has evaporated, then add enough hot vegetable stock to barely cover the pumpkin, salt and pepper, and cook until very tender. (at least 30 minutes).
Process with a hand mixer; adding more salt and stock as needed, and pour into individual bowls; decorate with the hazelnuts (if using), a few pomegranate seeds and  salt. In the context of a dairy meal, you can decorate it with a little sour cream or Greek yogurt. Serve warm.

Holy Pumpkin Fritters


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Holy Pumpkin Fritters (Parve)

Pumpkin arrived in Italy after the discovery of the Americas, and Northern Italian Jews liked it so much that in Venice we called it “suca baruca” (holy pumpkin, from the Hebrew “baruch”). When pumpkin made its appearance, Venice in general -and Jewish Venice in particular – was a crossroad of peoples and cultures, in which countless examples of what we would now call “Fusion” cuisine came to life. These fritters, which include spices and candied fruit, are a great example! I also contributed this recipe for a guest post on my friends’ lovely Italian blog Labna, which you should check out (especially if you read Italian!)…. and stay tuned for Labna’s own awesome guest post here, coming tomorrow!!!!!

Holy Pumpkin Fritters (Parve)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound pumpkin or butternut squash, cleaned and diced small
  • 2 eggs
  • grated zest of 2 oranges
  • ¾ cup of sugar and a pinch of salt
  • 1 and ½ cups flour
  • ½ package (8 gr) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon, if liked
  • 1/3 cup Raisins or Sultanas
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup candied etrog or lemon (if you don’t like it, skip & increase raisins & pine nuts)
  • Olive oil or peanut oil for deep-frying, at least 3 cups or more
  • Confectioner’s sugar for decorating

Directions

Plump the raisins in a cup of warm water. Chop the candied etrog or lime or lemon.

Place the diced squash in a large platter and cover almost completely, leaving a small opening for the steam to come out, and microwave on high for 10 minutes or until very tender.

Beat the eggs in a food processor with the sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange zest; add the cooked squash and process until smooth.

Drain and dry the raisins, and add them to the mix.

Transfer to a large bowl and gradually add the flour (sifted with the baking powder), using an electric or manual whisk.

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil to frying temperature (you can test it by dropping a small piece of bread in the oil: if bubbles form around the bread, the temperature is right).

Take the batter with a tablespoon, filling it to about ½, and push the batter into the oil with your index finger or a second spoon.

Fry in small batches until golden all over, turning to cook evenly.

Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer onto a platter lined with several layers of paper towels.

Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and serve warm.

Serves 6

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/12/05/holy-pumpkin-fritters/

Tagliatelle with Pumpkin and Lentils


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Tagliatelle with Pumpkin and Lentils

For Rosh HaShana I usually serve a fresh pasta soup in chicken broth before the main course: it’s easy to make (make or buy pasta; make chicken stock; cook the pasta and serve with the broth). But I wanted to offer something different for those of you who do not have a seder before the meal, and prefer a more filling first course. As a bonus, this pasta recipe includes pumpkin, one of the holiday symbols in some Italian Jewish communities, including Venice (see my post on “Zucca Barucca” above).

Tagliatelle with Pumpkin and Lentils

Ingredients

  • (serves 4)
  • 3/4 pound fresh or dried tagliatelle (Italian wide egg noodles)
  • 1 cup pumpkin or butternut squash (diced into small cubes)
  • 2 cups boiled lentils (or you can use a can)
  • 1 small zucchini
  • fresh sage
  • bay leaves
  • 1 small onion, minced very fine
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, 2 sage leaves and 1 bay leaf.

After a couple of minutes dd the diced zucchini, the drained lentils and the cubed pumpkin.

Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add a ladleful of hot water to the vegetables, salt and pepper, and cook for 10 minutes or more, until soft but not mushy.

Cook the tagliatelle in a large pot of salted boiling water.

While the pasta is cooking, transfer the vegetables into a bowl and put the rosemary sprig in the hot skillet where you cooked the vegetables, roasting it for a couple of minutes in the oil left over. Discard the rosemary and toast the breadcrumbs for 2-3 minutes in the same skillet.

Drain the pasta, dress it with the vegetable sauce and the toasted bread crumbs, and serve.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/09/22/tagliatelle-with-pumpkin-and-lentils/

Venetian Pumpkin Stew


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Pumpkin Stew

Venetian Pumpkin Stew

Pumpkin seeds started arriving from the Americas in the 16th century, probably brought by the Conversos that had settled in the New World. Since the official start of the Spanish Inquisition was in 1492, the same year that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, it’s not surprising that many Jews and Conversos would see this as an opportunity to leave Spain!

In Northern Italy pumpkins grew particularly well, and local Jews were among the first to add them to their dishes, usually with impressive results. I have already given you some of my favorite recipes for sweet and sour mashed pumpkin, pumpkin fritters , and more…. but here is a stew that will warm up your winter days or nights.

While Italians can be kind of clueless about how to grill a steak (with the exception of Tuscans), we have a long tradition of stewing and braising meat, which culminates in our special-occasion dish, brasato, slowly braised beef, veal or lamb. This particular recipe can also be made as a brasato: just replace the cubed meat with a single cut of beef shoulder – whatever your butcher recommends for braising – and use the same ingredients but cook much longer (over 2 hours) covered and on very low heat. Of course you can also use a crockpot, so you can head off to work, set it and come back home to find that dinner is done and ready to serve.

Venetian Pumpkin Stew

Ingredients

  • (serves 4-6)
  • 2 pounds cubed veal for stew
  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash or pumpkin
  • 1 large white onion, finely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or more (to taste)
  • 1 cup white wine or marsala
  • sage leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic, whole
  • salt and pepper

Directions

Heat 1/2 of the the olive oil in a heavy pot over high heat, add the meat and brown it on all side. Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the pot, and when it's hot add the garlic, onion and sage, and cook for about 5 minutes or until translucent.

Remove and discard the garlic cloves.

Add the meat, the pumpkin (or butternut squash), and the wine. Increase the heat to allow the wine to evaporate.

Add a little salt, , cover with hot water or broth, bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meat is so soft that you can cut it with a fork, and the pumpkin has dissolved into a mash.

Add a touch of pepper and serve with polenta or fresh bread.

If you don't like veal you can use beef: of course beef takes much longer to cook, and you may want to use a slow-cooker.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/09/01/venetian-pumpkin-stew/