Off the Bone

Two years ago I took a course on Soviet history with a visiting Italian professor. He was one of the happiest men I’ve known. Between talking about the collapse of the Soviet Union he would tell us stories of his academic apprenticeship, his preferred order of photocopying pages from a book, his youngest daughter’s fascination with dragons, and his exasperation with well-meaning friends who took him for dinners in the Boston North End. A good home cook himself, he hated North End Italian. It was too rich, he thought, and too complex, as if the chefs could not resist throwing together all the ingredients they were unable to afford back in Italy, and created an imaginary “rich Italian” cuisine in their New World restaurants.

At the end of the semester I exchanged chocolate chip cookies for his daughters for his favorite home recipe - which turned out to be pumpkin pasta. It’s a lovely thing, flavors mild and clear, and perfect for fall. Aside from the pumpkin you will only need your pantry staples: garlic, olive oil, parsley, and, of course, pasta. If you cannot stand the simplicity, or have a fennel bulb in the pantry begging to be used, I’d let you add it too - although Andrea might frown.

Andrea started with raw pumpkin, peeled and sliced quite thinly. I prefer to pre-bake mine, because I don’t like peeling raw pumpkin. You can do either, but if you don’t pre-bake you should give your pumpkin time to cook almost completely in the skillet before you add pasta, which means starting the skillet as soon as you put your pasta pot on the stove. If you choose to pre-bake, keep the pumpkin in the oven until it can be pierced with a sharp knife but not yet smooshed with a spoon, and start the skillet when the pasta water is boiling (use robust dried pasta, not something that will cook in seconds).

For two servings you’ll need two cloves of garlic, half an acorn squash or equivalent (I used one small delicata squash, which was lovely), and a generous handful of parsley, chopped fine.

1. Sautee garlic in a generous quantity olive oil; when very fragrant and golden, add slices of pumpkin. Salt and pepper and wait, letting the pumpkin brown a bit (or cook if it’s raw).

2. Add chopped parsley, stir, fish out your still-uncooked pasta from the pot and dump it in the skillet with a little bit of pasta water. Stir and cook everything until the pasta is ready, adding more pasta water if you have to. Adjust salt, add more pepper, and serve piping hot.

3. Don’t sprinkle parmesan on top.