Preparation

• Remove the ends of the long zucchini and cut it into several parts to facilitate peeling.
  Wash thoroughly.
  Peel with a peeler.
  Rinse under running water.
  Slice thickly and then cut each slice into cubes or dices.

  If you don’t digest or don’t like onion, you can prepare stewed long zucchini without onion.

  Peel the onion, remove the ends and wash it.
  Slice into rounds or chop into chunks.
  Add it to a casserole and let it wilt for a few seconds.
  Add 1/4 cup of water and wait for it to sauté.

  Add the zucchini and more water to cover it [the zucchini will release more water while cooking].
  Add:
  • the vegetable stock cube;
  • 2-4 tablespoons of tomato sauce or if you prefer, some chopped tomatoes, and mix.

  Although stewed long zucchini with tomato is tastier, you can prepare stewed long zucchini in white.

  Let it cook with a lid on low heat for 15-20 minutes until the zucchini is soft but not falling apart.

  Season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper, add basil leaves.

  Your stewed long zucchini is ready.

  Enjoy your meal!

  

• If you have any leftover cooking broth of the long zucchini, you can drink it or use it as vegetable broth.

• The original recipe of stewed long zucchini also includes potatoes: stewed long zucchini and potatoes.
  Since potatoes should be consumed instead of bread, pasta, and rice, consider whether you want to prepare a simple side dish [only long zucchini] or a more substantial dish that includes carbohydrates.

• Long zucchini soup with broken spaghetti or “cucuzza lonca a picchi pacchi“
  In another pot, cook the pasta and drain it.
  In case of brothy first courses, to avoid glycemic spikes, it is advisable to cook the pasta separately and then rinse it and add it to the brothy sauce prepared separately; this way the starch released by the pasta in the cooking water is eliminated.
  Bring the stewed long zucchini to a boil again.
  Add the pasta to the pot with the long zucchini, turn off the heat, and mix.
  Grind the pepper.
  Add a drizzle of raw oil.

  Eggs broken into stewed long zucchini
  Bring the stewed long zucchini back to a boil.
  Break the eggs and add them to the casserole with the long zucchini.
  Cook on low heat for 5-10 minutes until the white is set and according to the desired yolk consistency.
  Grind the pepper.
  Add a drizzle of raw oil.

  Stewed long zucchini with cheese
  Add to the hot stewed long zucchini some aged or semi-aged cheese cut into cubes or dices [for example: Ragusano caciocavallo or Ragusano provola].
  Grind the pepper.
  Add a drizzle of raw oil.

• The leaves and sprouts of the long zucchini plants are called tenerumi and are also harvested and consumed, boiled or in soup.
  In Sicily, they are easily found in the market, less so in other regions.
  • Light recipes with tenerumi [typical Sicilian greens].