• 2 pounds pumpkin or other firm, red-fleshed squash, well peeled of its hard rind, seeds and stringy flesh removed
• 7 or 8 cloves garlic, crushed, peeled, and finely chopped
• ½ cup finely chopped parsley
• Salt, pepper
• 4 tablespoons flour
• ⅓ cup olive oil

Slice the squash into thicknesses of ⅓ inch and cut each slice into ⅓-inch strips. Cut firmly held bundles crosswise into tiny dice and toss them in a mixing bowl together with the garlic and the parsley, seasoning several times while tossing so that the cubes will be regularly seasoned and coated with the persillade. Sprinkle over the flour and toss the contents of the bowl repeatedly until each tiny cube is evenly coated with flour (adding a bit more if necessary—excess flour will fall to the bottom of the bowl and may be discarded later).

Generously rub the bottom and sides of a fairly deep earthenware gratin dish with olive oil, fill with the cubed squash mixture, pressing gently and evening the surface, dribble olive oil in a crisscross pattern over the entire surface, and cook in a gentle oven (325° to 350°) for from 2 hours to 2½ hours or until the surface forms a deep, rich brown crust—falling just short of being blackened. Beneath the crust the squash should have melted to a near purée, the cubes retaining perfectly their form but ready to collapse at the touch of a fork or a tongue.