Zucca in agrodolce

Sweet and Sour Pumpkin sounds like a poor man's Chinese Takeaway dish but it's actually a very traditional Sicilian recipe called Zucca (pumpkin) in agrodolce (sweet'n'sour). Influenced by its Byzantine and Moorish past the flavours are more Middle Eastern than Italian but very definitely Sicilian!

Ingredients
serves 4
1 kg pumpkin, (or a winter squash)
100ml olive oil, for frying
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
2 tsp ground cinnamon
fresh mint
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,  to serve
salt, to taste

Method

Quarter the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Cut it into thick slices and remove the skin. Then slice again into pieces about 1cm thick and 3-4cm long.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a low to medium heat and place in it the garlic cloves. Fry gently until the garlic begins to colour.  Remove the garlic and set aside. Turn up the heat to high and add the pumpkin slices. Fry them for a few minutes on each side until they have softened and coloured. Be careful not to overcook them as they will break up and become pumpkin mash.

Remove the pumpkin from the pan and remove any excess oil. Turn the heat down to low.

In a small bowl mix the caster sugar with the cinnamon then add white wine vinegar. Pour the sweet and sour mix to the frying pan and cook for less than a minute before returning the pumpkin to the pan. Add some salt and gently stir to coat the pumpkin but try not to stir them too much as they will break up. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Scatter over the mint.

Remove from the heat and cover with a lid. Allow the flavours to infuse for about 5 minutes before serving. Place in a warm serving platter and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.