Zucchino, Tromba D' Albenga Zucchetta
Tromba D' Albenga - Summer Squash Mid-early. Fruit is long, curved with a bulb at the end. Excellent choice if squash bugs are a problem in your garden. Growth habit is more like a winter squash than a zucchini so leave plenty of space, they will run 20-25 feet. 65-75 days
From the characteristic curved shape of a light green "umbrella handle", its pulp has a sweet and delicate flavor that it can also be eaten raw. Its flowers are elegant and exquisite: it is the trumpet courgette. It is one of the Quattro d'Albenga (the others are ox heart tomato, violet asparagus and spiny artichoke) and, in recent weeks, it is spreading on the markets and tables of the Ligurians and beyond.
Contrary to what one might think, it is one of the few fruits whose seeds are still selected on site. Coming from the Americas, it was introduced in Liguria, in ancient times, by Ligurian sailors. It is also known as “Albenga's pumpkin” and “Albenga's climber”. The use of the immature fruit is a typical Ligurian. Its excellent and indisputable organoleptic qualities. It owes its name to the usually elongated shape of the fruit and to the fact that, growing spontaneously, lying on the ground without stakes, it tends to twist 360 ° like a trumpet. The fact that the apex of the fruit is enlarged (the ovary is located in it) contributes even more to giving the idea of a trumpet.
The "trumpet", as it is known on the markets, is not twisted since its most suitable form of cultivation is the pergola: as the fruit grows it tends to stretch downwards. Therefore the collection is straight or almost straight. Its marketing takes place, as for the courgette, with immature fruit, when it is more showy (with the flower open) but also more tender for consumption even raw. Left to swell, it becomes copper-colored and, kept cool in the cellars, it lasts all winter seasoning soups and past, as well as being excellent in Ligurian cakes.
There are countless recipes based on zucchini, they accompany both meat and fish, today we want to suggest an original way to use the trumpet: with a mandolin cut into slices four zucchini. In a large pan, flavor the extra virgin olive oil with a clove of garlic, preferably from Vessalico. Throw the courgettes into the boiling oil, salted with fine salt, and let them dry well, until most of the slices are browned. Meanwhile, boil a pot of salted water where you will cook half a kilo of short pasta (we love farfalle, but mezze penne or “corkscrews” are also good). Drain it al dente and put it in a pan with the courgettes, season it well, add some chopped basil leaves and serve. A grated pecorino cheese, for those who like it, enhances everything.