Italian Pumpkin "Gratin"

All pumpkins are winter squash but not all winter squash are pumpkins. Pumpkin is a colloquial term derived from the word pompion, which is derived from Middle French, from Italian and Latin, and originally Greek, meaning ripe melon. And indeed, pumpkins and winter squash are in the same botanical family as melons. We refer to the round, usually orange, winter squashes as pumpkins - colloquially. 

I adore pumpkins and all winter squash. Nowadays there are so many varieties. Some are for eating and some are purely for decoration. It’s hard to keep track so I found a Pumpkin Variety Masterlist to help. Blue Hubbard, Butternut and Winter Luxury are the varieties that make the best pumpkin puree for pie and cake, in my opinion. 

Let me share an Italian not-recipe  recipe for any eating pumpkin, but especially for the medium sized round ones like Winter Luxury, Futsu, Calabaza, or Kabocha for example. You’ll need a 9x13 baking dish, a pumpkin, slices of Scamorza or Fontina cheese (sliced thin or shredded), Italian ham like Prosciutto or Speck (sliced thinly).  Cut the pumpkin in half vertically and scoop out the seeds. Slice into thin slices vertically, starting from the cut edge, then peel the skin off each slice after you make it with your knife. Half of the pumpkin should be enough slices but you can slice the whole pumpkin this way and freeze the slices you don’t use for this recipe. Butter or oil the baking dish and place a layer of pumpkin slices down to cover the bottom, layer on the cheese, then the ham, top with pumpkin, another layer of cheese and ham, top with pumpkin, garnish with cheese, bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven until the pumpkin is fork tender. My French ancestry is dying to add that you can pour over a little cream over the top before adding the garnish of cheese. Either way, you have a delicious meal or filling side dish. I’m definitely making this for Thanksgiving.