The town of Moneglia in Liguria, is famous for its pumpkins and each year sees the Carnevale della Zucca, with celebrations beginning with decorated floats, masks and processions through the town’s streets and ending with a delicious spread of local specialties, all featuring the pumpkin of Moneglia. And one of the area’s signature dishes is the torta di zucca, a savory pumpkin pie you’re unlikely to find elsewhere.

Use any ripe orange fleshed pumpkin for this dish, but make sure to drain the pumpkin well before puréeing.

Ingredients

(for six people)
50g homemade breadcrumbs;
Extra-virgin olive oil;
400g shortcrust or puff pastry;
1kg pumpkin, cut into small chunks;
1 onion, chopped; 4 eggs;
100g ricotta; 100g grated Parmesan;
1 tsp dried marjoram; freshly grated nutmeg.

Preparation

Cook the chunks of pumpkin in boiling salted water for 10-15 minutes, until just tender. Place pumpkin in a colander and leave to drain for at least three to four hours, but preferably overnight. Push pumpkin through a vegetable mill or through a sieve into as bowl. Sauté the onion in a little olive oil until it is tender and transparent. Add to the pumpkin and stir in a couple of handfuls of the breadcrumbs. Beat the eggs in a bowl with the ricotta, the Parmesan and the marjoram and season with salt, pepper and some freshly ground nutmeg.

Stir the eggs into the pumpkin, mixing well. Roll out the pastry and line a buttered 23 cm round pie dish or spring-form pan so that pastry comes 5 cm or so up the side of the pan. Pour in the pumpkin mixture, allow the edges of the pastry to roll over and cover the filling slightly at the edges. Scatter the remaining breadcrumbs over the top of the pie, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 200°C for 40 minutes or until pie is cooked in the centre. Serve warm or cold, but not hot.