Well, autumn is well and truly upon us. And there’s no vegetable that marks the new season quite like the pumpkin. Even here in the US, where food markets have almost entirely lost their sense of seasonality, you can still count on the appearance of pumpkins and other hard squashes this time of year to remind you of the change of season.

The pumpkin or zucca is one of the most versatile of vegetables in Italian cookery. As we’ve seen here at Memorie di Angelina over the years, you can use it to dress pasta, flavor risotto or dumplings, to fill tortelli, in creamy soups and even in stews. In today’s post, let’s take a look at yet another way to enjoy the zucca in the Italian style: in a savory pie called torta salata di zucca.

In the basic recipe, you roast, then mash your squash, then mix it with ricotta cheese, grated parmigiano-reggiano and egg, then bake it in a pastry shell until done. If you want something more substantial, this basic filling can be enriched with little cubes of meltable cheese such as scamorza or mozzarella, or bits of pancetta, prosciutto, Speck or other cured meats, or even, if you’re in an extravagant mood, both.

And although you can certainly make your own crust, especially for a special occasion, using a store bought pastry turns this into an easy dish for everyday meals.

Torta salata di zucca makes for a lovely seasonal antipasto or a plant-based main course as well. I can’t think of a lovelier way to greet the autumn.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 as an antipasto, 2-3 as a main course

To prep the squash

1 kilo (2 lbs) winter squash or 500g (1 lb) of pulp (see Notes)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
A few sprigs of rosemary (optional)

For the basic filling:

3 eggs
250g (1/2 lb) ricotta cheese
75 g (3 oz) freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
Salt and pepper

Optional enrichments for the filling:

100g (3-1/2 oz) scamorza, mozzarella, Emmenthal or another meltable cheese, cut in small cubes
100g (3-1/2 oz) pancetta, Speck, prosciutto, ham or some other cured meat, cut into small cubes

For baking:

1 store bought pastry crust, or one batch of pasta brisée or pasta sfoglia, rolled out in a circle
A 24cm (9-1/2 inch) pie plate or quiche pan
Butter or olive oil for greasing

Directions

Cut the squash into large wedges and scoop out the seeds. Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive, season with salt and pepper. If using, lay a small sprig of rosemary on top of each wedge.
Bake in a hot (200C/400F) oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the squash is soft.

Remove from oven and let the squash cool completely. Remove the rosemary, then scoop out the pulp and transfer to a mixing bowl. Discard the skins.

Add to the mixing bowl, the rest of the basic filling ingredients and mix vigorously until you have a smooth and uniform mixture. (If you prefer, you can also do this in a food processor or using a stick blender.)

If using, fold in the cubed cheese and meats.

Line a well greased pie plate or quiche dish with the pastry, letting an extra dough hang over the sides. Pour in the filling and flatten it out with a spatula. Now you can fold any extra pastry dough back over the filling, or braid it to form a decorative [border] or just trim it off, as you prefer.

Bake in a pre-heated moderate (180C/350F) oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the filling is cooked through and the pastry has lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

Serve lukewarm or at room temperature.

Torta salata di zucca (Savory Pumpkin Pie)

Notes

Torta salata di zucca will no doubt remind American readers of their iconic pumpkin pie, the indispensable Thanksgiving dessert. But trust me in saying this savory pie is quite different, both in taste and texture. If, like me, you don’t care for pumpkin pie, I think you may still find you enjoy this savory take.

On pumpkins and other winter squashes

The weight given above for whole winter squashes is for the raw unpeeled and unseeded vegetable. I find a roasted squash produces pulp weighing about half that (slightly less actually). Hence the measurements given above.

Obviously the success of your torta salata di zucca will depend on the quality of your main ingredient. I’ve complained many times before about the tastelessness of pumpkins here in the US as compared with the Italian zucca, so I don’t want to bore you yet again with another rant, especially if you’re not a US reader. When I first moved back to the US, I substituted baby yams for zucca, and I still do. But thankfully we now have other very decent winter squashes at our disposal, among which my personal favorite is the Kabocha, sometimes marketed as “Japanese pumpkin”. For other suggestions, you can read here and here.

If you prefer, you can steam the pumpkin wedges rather than roasting them. Or you can peel the still raw pumpkin and cut it into cubes, still raw, and sauté until tender. Personally, however, I prefer the pre-roasting method. It’s easy since it doesn’t need all that laborious peeling. And roasting intensifies the flavor, which can be a real boon if your squash is on the bland side.

Some readers might be tempted to use canned pumpkin pulp, and of course I can’t stop you. But although as regular readers know I will used canned beans without hesitation, for some reason I find the canned pumpkin inedible.

On the pastry crust

Truth be told, 9 times out of 10, I used store bought pastry for making torta salata di zucca and other pies. That said, if you want to take your torta salata di zucca to the next level, you can of course make your own crust. I’d suggest either a flour and butter pastry (see this post) and a slightly less rich pastry with flour and egg, which you can find here.

The standard pie plate in Italy is 24cm wide, which is 9-3/4 inches. Here they tend to run a bit smaller or larger but the recipe will work all the same, with a slightly thinner or thicker filling. You may need to adjust baking times accordingly.

Variations

For a richer, more custard like filling for your torta salata di zucca, closer to a quiche, substitute heavy cream for the ricotta. You will also find recipes that substitute other soft spreadable cheeses like mascarpone for the ricotta. In yet others, you omit the ricotta altogether for a filling that’s just puréed squash with eggs and grated cheese.

You can add herbs to the filling as well typically thyme or marjoram. You can also add a bit of ground nutmeg. For a chunkier filling, roast the squash until just tender, not totally soft, and don’t purée the squash pulp, just cut it into cubes, and add it to the bowl after you’ve mixed the rest of the filling ingredients.

And if you like, you can also use another pastry round, cut into strips, to top the filling in a cross-hatch pattern. The technique is described in our posts for pizza rustica and pastiera napoletana.

For a very different approach, you add alternating slices of raw squash and cheese, placed in a decorative circular pattern, a bit like you’re making a crostata di mele. But this torta salata di zucca is so different it probably merits its own post.

Making Ahead

You can roast the squash several days ahead if you like. You could make the complete filling ahead as well, but with its raw egg I would do it the day before. Indeed, you can make the whole torta ahead, though it loses its charm after a day or two.

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