The long zucchini soup is a Sicilian recipe for summer, an essential comfort food despite the heat.
It is a delicious vegetable soup to be consumed with or without pasta.
For brothy first courses, to avoid glycemic spikes, it is advisable to cook the pasta separately, rinse it, and add it to the brothy sauce prepared separately; in this way, the starch released by the pasta in the cooking water is eliminated.
The long zucchini, in dialect cucuzza lonca or longa, is also known as Sicilian snake zucchini or Sicilian zucchini.
It is light green and covered with a thin fuzz.
It is available from May and is used for preparing the typical summer long zucchini soup.
When purchasing, ensure it is not too ripe or it will be full of seeds, spongy, and hard.
The leaves and shoots of the long zucchini plants are called tenerumi and are also collected and consumed, either boiled or in soup.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- long zucchini
- 1/2 onion (or shallot)
- 3 1/3 tbsp water (+ water for cooking)
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube (homemade)
- to taste tomato sauce (homemade)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch mixed peppercorns (with grinder)
- to taste basil
- 1 drizzle extra virgin olive oil (raw)
Tools
- 1 Potato Peeler
- 1 Saucepan with lid
Preparation
If the long zucchini is too long, you can divide it and cook a part while storing the remaining in the fridge with the ends wrapped in plastic wrap or inside a freezer bag.
Remove the ends of the long zucchini and divide it into several parts to facilitate the peeling process.
Wash thoroughly.
Peel with a potato peeler.
Rinse under running water.
Cut into thick slices and then cut each slice into cubes or small dice.If you do not digest or like onions, you can prepare the long zucchini soup without onion.
Peel the onion, remove the ends, and wash it.
Slice into rings or chop.
Place it in a saucepan and let it wilt for a few seconds.
Add 3 1/3 tbsp of water and wait for it to sauté.Add the zucchini and a little more water just enough to cover a couple of inches above the bottom [the zucchini will release more during cooking].
Add:
• the vegetable bouillon;
• 2-4 tablespoons of tomato sauce or, if preferred, diced tomatoes and mix;
• basil leaves.Although the long zucchini soup with tomato is tastier, you can prepare the long zucchini soup plain.
Leave to cook with a lid on and 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.
Serve.
Add a drizzle of raw oil.Your long zucchini soup is ready.
Bon appétit!
Long zucchini soup with broken spaghetti or “cucuzza lonca a picchi pacchi“
In another pot, cook and drain the pasta.
For brothy first courses, to avoid glycemic spikes, it is advisable to cook the pasta separately, rinse it, and add it to the brothy sauce prepared separately; in this way, the starch released by the pasta in the cooking water is eliminated.
Bring the long zucchini soup back to a boil.
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 long zucchini soup
Bring the long zucchini soup back to a boil.
Break the eggs and pour them into the saucepan with the long zucchini.
Let cook on low heat for 5-10 minutes until the egg white is set and to the desired yolk consistency.
Grind the pepper.
Add a drizzle of raw oil.Long zucchini soup with cheese
Add aged or semi-aged cheese cubes or dice [for example: Ragusano caciocavallo or Ragusano provola] to the hot long zucchini soup.
Grind the pepper.
Add a drizzle of raw oil.The leaves and shoots of the long zucchini plants are called tenerumi and are also collected and consumed, either boiled or in soup.
In Sicily, they are easily found at the market, less so in other regions.
• Light Recipes with Tenerumi [typical Sicilian vegetable].
Notes
Hyperglycemia, prediabetes and diabetes.
Here you can find dedicated recipes.
Remember:
• start the meal with a generous portion of vegetables [raw or cooked];
• a balanced meal must contain all nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats & fibers;
• always prepare it in accordance with the proportions and combinations indicated in your food plan.
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