Pumpkin and Greco: sweetness, simplicity, and good company

It happens at least once in everyone's life to find yourself facing a choice that troubles the soul: starting a diet! This time, unfortunately, it was my turn and that of my dining companions from a few days ago, but there are so many light recipes that often satisfy the palate, fill you up, and leave you feeling light.

One of my favorites is a simple recipe with pumpkin – remember when our Alessandro Genova told you about another food and wine pairing, with a risotto alla zucca? Today, though, let's not forget we're on a diet!

Ingredients:

- 600 g of pumpkin
- 2 glasses of water
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Parmigiano reggiano to taste
- 2-3 pomidorini ro' piennolo
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 1 stalk of celery
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- Cinnamon (or nutmeg) to taste

Preparation:
Peel, wash, and chop the pumpkin roughly into pieces; halve the tomatoes; finely chop the parsley and celery, and simply crush the garlic cloves without slicing them (this way it will be easier to avoid eating them later!).
Place everything in a tall pot and add the water and oil.
Once the pumpkin has "dried out," season with salt and add a touch of cinnamon (without overdoing it).
After about 30 minutes of cooking, our recipe will be ready and all that's left to do is plate it and add Parmigiano reggiano and pepper to taste if desired; being on a diet, we skipped that.

Wine pairing:
I know what you're thinking: alcohol while dieting isn't ideal – you're right, but it's also true that I never promised not to break the diet!
The temptation was already in the fridge when I arrived, so someone had premeditated the sin!
Greco D.O.P. from Cantina La Guardiense, a simple and affordable bottle, you can find it for around 6 euros.
Color: straw yellow; aromas of yellow fruit and white flowers – on the nose you can detect apricot, pineapple, and almond; the palate is savory and mineral thanks to the calcareous and clay soils of Sannio; interesting acidity, lacking in persistence but given the price we can't complain.