What are tenerumi? Many don’t know because they are a very regional food, especially in the Palermo area. Basically, they are the leaves of the plant where the Sicilian long zucchini grows, a local variety.
Tenerumi are so localized that just moving a little away from the capital, you might find that elsewhere they are not even considered or valued. I remember a particular anecdote from years ago, when I was a kid, hearing someone from Balestrate, a small town about 25 miles from Palermo, say that for them it was “grass” and as such, during the harvest, they were thrown away.
In Palermo, however, they are much appreciated, and I am personally very attached to this type of dish because they remind me a lot of when I lived at home with my parents, and my mom used to make them very often during the hot season. In fact, it is precisely in summer that they are harvested, and despite the very hot days, one cannot resist this hot and nutritious soup!
The process for making pasta with tenerumi is not at all complicated. Just prepare a delicious pic pac and separately boil the leaves. At the end of both cooking processes, they are then combined and used as broth to cook the pasta inside.
Related recipes:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients
For the pasta with tenerumi
- 1 bunch tenerumi
- 2 cloves garlic
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 1 can peeled tomato
- to taste salt
- 5.3 oz broken spaghetti
Tools
- Pots
Steps
To prepare pasta with tenerumi
First, take a bunch of tenerumi and carefully detach all the leaves from their stems, cutting at the base of the leaf.
As you detach the leaves, place them one by one into a large bowl and then wash them repeatedly under running water, draining several times. Repeat the washing at least 5 or 6 times.
Next, cut the leaves into pieces about 1.5 inches wide in an irregular manner. Don’t worry if the cuts aren’t precise because once cooked, they will completely lose their original shape.
Continue by preparing the pic pac, sautéing the chopped garlic with EVO oil, and cooking the peeled tomatoes with salt for about 20 minutes with the lid on. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a large pot filled 3/4 full.
At this point, once the water is boiling, submerge the cut tenerumi and also add some salt. Let cook for about 15 minutes until the leaves are completely wilted.
In this step, when the leaves are well cooked, add the prepared pic pac to the same pot and stir. Bring to a boil and prepare for the final stage.
To conclude, add the broken spaghetti to the pot and cook for the necessary time until the pasta is al dente.
Finally, place portions of pasta with tenerumi into deep plates or bowls and serve. You can also add a drizzle of raw olive oil and some ground pepper for a bolder flavor.
Tip!
Add a peeled and chopped Sicilian long zucchini to the boiling for an even tastier variant.
