The pumpkin, one of the most loved winter vegetables, is recommended for its digestibility, for its few calories (18 every 100 g) and for the richness of vitamin A, C and trace elements such as sodium, calcium, iron, potassium and phosphorus.
Among its properties, it calms inflammations of the digestive system and it is also diuretic.
Besides its nutrients, it also is versatile: it can be steam cooked, or in the oven, fried and can be the leading actor in starters or in any course of the meal.
Out of this versatile vegetable, nothing must be wasted. The skin can be used to soothe small burns, flowers are edible same as zucchini ones, so you can eat them also raw in a salad.
The seeds, if washed and still wet can be put in oven on a tray with salt until they become crunchy and tasty, they are a healthy and tasty snack.
When you purchase a pumpkin (the season goes from august to January) it is better to choose a hard and ripe one without any spot or dents and with an intact petiole. By hitting it, you should hear the deaf sound of a compact vegetable.
In Italy the pumpkins are grown mostly in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and less in Campania and Puglia; the consumption during the last 20-30 years has reduced by 10%, even if recently there has been some recovery, encouraged by the distribution of the product in portions and in many cases cooked in the oven, in response to needs of busy family and lifestyles.