Pumpkin boosts this pasta’s tendency for sweetness. We also needed consistency, acidity and touches of bitterness, which is why we chose radicchio, completed with the crunch that comes from toasted pumpkin seeds.
INGREDIENTS
• 100 g spelt corallini pasta
• 500 g pumpkin or squash (butternut or mantovana)
• 1 small potato
• 1 head of red chicory
• 1/2 gold onion
• Pumpkin seeds
• Extra virgin olive oil as required
• Salt to taste
To cook the chicory:
• 200 ml water
• 150 g cane sugar
• 100 ml red wine vinegar
Method
Peel, de-seed and chop the pumpkin.
Gently fry the chopped onion and add the diced potato and pumpkin; leave to brown slightly and add a little water to finish cooking.
Blend this mix and season with salt to taste.
Prepare a solution with water, sugar and wine vinegar; bring to the boil and immerse the washed radicchio leaves.
As soon as it starts to boil again, drain the radicchio, leave to cool and then chop it.
Toast the corallini in a little oil and then add the pumpkin cream, and, with a little water at a time, allow to cook to the consistency of a risotto.
Place in a dish, seeking to level it out, adding the chicory and the toasted pumpkin. Drizzle with a little oil to finish.
Pairing with local wine
Organic Bianchello del Metauro Doc Spumante brut – Metodo Classico, 36 months
The complex nature of this recipe, above all in terms of its tendency towards sweet and sour, needs to be contrasted with the freshness and carbonic acidity of sparkling wine.
by Otello Renzi
