Zucca Barucca ("Holy" Pumpkin or Butternut Squash) (Parve)
Pumpkin or Butternut Squash is an important part of our Rosh haShana Seder. While the symbolic foods of the Pesach Seder are meant to internalize the memory of Passover, the symbols of Rosh haShana point to the future to wish us a good New Year. The Aramaic term for squash/pumpkin is 'Kerah". Because of its resemblance to the Aramaic root "Kara" (to cut), when we eat this vegetable we pray that any of our bad deeds will be cut out of the Book of G-d's Judgement. Pumpkin arrived in Italy after the discovery of the Americas, and was such a hit with Northern Italian Jews that in Venice we call it "Zucca Barucca" (Holy Pumpkin - from the Hebrew "Baruch").
Different communities and different families prepare it in different ways, but here are a sweet-and-sour version, plus my favorite (but not very photogenic) Venetian version, mashed.
SWEET AND SOUR PUMPKIN (or Butternut Squash)
•1 pound butternut squash or pumpkin (weight peeled and seeded)
•1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•2 cloves garlic, finely sliced or minced
•2 tablespoons honey or sugar
•2 to 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar (to taste)
•Salt and pepper to taste
•3 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
Directions
Peel the squash and discard the seeds.
Cut into wedges, about 1/2" thick.
In a skillet or wok, heat the olive oil over medium/high heat. Add the squash and cook until soft inside and golden brown on the outside (8 to 10 minutes).
Discard most of the frying oil, and put the skillet back on the stovetop with the squash. Drizzle with the vinegar and add the salt, pepper, sugar (or honey), garlic and mint.
Cook for about 10 more minutes on low heat, stirring gently.
It can be eaten warm or at room temperature.
MASHED PUMPKIN (Zucca Disfatta)
•2 pounds butternut squash or pumpkin, diced (weight peeled and seeded)
•1/2 cup to 1 cup of extra-virgin olive oil (to taste)
•1 medium onion, very finely minced
•2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
•Salt and pepper to taste
•(in Ferrara they even add candied Etrog)
Directions
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and cook the onion in it, adding a couple of tablespoons of water if necessary. Add the diced pumpkin, parsley, salt and cook it on low heat, covered, stirring often, until it's so soft that it can be mashed easily. At this point, mash it with a fork or potato masher.
Roasted Fish with Fennel
Another very common symbol on the Rosh HaShana table is the head of a fish, with the prayer "that we be a head and not a tail". We don't actually eat the head (yikes), just present it as a symbol; but we do eat the rest of the fish and here is a great easy recipe.
If you didn't use fennel for the previous symbol, Roviah, but green beans or beans, try adding it to the fish instead - it's a delicious combination! Some people do not like using lemon on Rosh HaShana (in the spirit of eating only things that are sweet, and not sour): if that's your case, add only the peel/zest, without the pulp.
Ingredients (serves 6-8 as an appetizer or 4 as a main course)
- 2 branzinos (a type of bass) or other white fish, about 2 pounds each - scaled, gills removed, gutted and rinsed
- 1 fennel bulb, sliced very thinly (I use a mandoline)
- 1 medium onion or leek, sliced thinly
- one lemon, sliced thinly, seeds removed
- fresh rosemary
- extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and white pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Using a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts into the skin of the fish, on each side.fish about 1/4-inch deep diagonally three times on each side. Season the inside with salt and white pepper.
Stuff the inside with just a few slices of fennel, onion and lemon and a sprig of rosemary.
Brush a baking pan with extra-virgin olive oil (I prefer a milder extra-virgin oil for fish, like a Ligurian oil); on the bottom of the pan layer fennel, onion and lemon, seasoning with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil. Place the fish on top of the vegetables, sprinkle with little salt and drizzle with more olive oil, and transfer into the oven for about 18 minutes or until cooked (cooking time depends on the size of the fish - to make sure the fish is cooked check if it's flaking from the bone).
Chocolate Pear Cake (Dairy or Parve)
My favorite easy cake. Period.
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1 and 1/4 cups of pastry flout (or 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus 1/2 cups potato starch)
1 package baking powder (16 gr)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or parve no-trans-fat margarine
4/5 cup dark semi-bitter chocolate (parve if you are making the dairy-free version)
2 pears (Williams if possible)
confectioner's sugar to decorate
Directions:
Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the sifted baking powder and flour. Add the melted chocolate and butter (I melt them in the microwave). Peel and core the pears, cut them into small pieces and add them to the mix. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Grease a baking pan and dust it with flour (or line it with oven-proof parchment paper).
Pour the mixture with the pears into the baking pan and bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes or until ready (you can check with a toothpick: it should come out almost dry.
Allow the cake to cool on a rack, then decorate it with confectioner's sugar running it trough a sieve.
About Alessandra Rovati:
Alessandra Rovati is a food writer with a focus on Jewish and Kosher Italian Cuisine. 
Born and raised in Venice, Italy, she now lives in New York City with her husband and children. Besides contributing to several magazines, Alessandra teaches cooking classes and lectures about Italian culinary traditions. She also posts free recipes and cooking tips on her website www.dinnerinvenice.com.
Alessandra's articles and recipes have been published in The New YorkTimes, The Forward, Joy of Kosher, Kosher Inspired, Hadassah Magazine, Bitayavon, The Jewish Voice, the Australian Jewish Week and more. She has also been featured on Foxnews.com Live, and her video has appeared on thejewishweek.com.
Photos courtesy of dinnerinvenice.com
Headshot: Steve Lars Photo
