Baked Pumpkin with Speck

Baked pumpkin with speck is a tasty autumnal dish that’s simple to prepare. Here’s how to do it.

Ingredients

• 500 g of cleaned pumpkin
• 100 g of speck in slices
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Fresh rosemary (a few sprigs)
• Garlic (1 clove, optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Clean the pumpkin by removing its skin and seeds, then cut it into cubes of about 2 cm on each side.
3. Place the pumpkin cubes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
4. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with salt, pepper, garlic if using, and rosemary. Mix well to flavor all the pieces of pumpkin.
5. Lay the slices of speck on top of the pumpkin cubes. Try to ensure that each piece of pumpkin has its own portion of speck on top.
6. Bake and let it cook for about 25-30 minutes or until the pumpkin is golden and the speck is crispy. If the speck cooks too quickly, you can cover the tray with aluminum foil.
7. Once cooked, remove the pumpkin from the oven and serve immediately.

Curiosity

Pumpkin is a very versatile vegetable in the kitchen and pairs well with smoked flavors like speck. Even though this preparation is simple, the richness of taste is guaranteed by the contrast between the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and the savoriness of the speck, making this dish suitable as an appetizer or side dish in an autumn or winter menu.