Monday, June 20, 2011

Cucuzza?!

What in the heck are my boys holding, you ask... It's CUCUZZA!!!

Still confused?!

I grew up knowing Cucuzza and watching my grandmother prepare Cucuzza stew!(pronounced Ko-KOOTZA or "googootz") but for most of you, you are probably TOTALLY confused...here's a little about them: Cucuzza looks like a smooth, pale zucchini with an elegant curvature and can be up to three feet in length. Its pale green skin needs to be peeled, and the white flesh is generally cooked rather than eaten raw. The flesh has an extremely mild taste and, even when peeled, holds its shape well when cooked. If the seeds are tender, you can eat them, but they start to get harder as the squash matures. If the seeds are hard, discard them. Cucuzza can be steamed, grilled, fried, baked, sauteed, stuffed, or used almost any other way you would use summer squash, as long but make sure you peel it first
Yes, this would be another strange thing that We, Italians eat! And they are growing in our garden! Yep, my grandma would be SO proud! They are beautiful plants and make a gorgeous vine! And let me tell you, they're SOOO good! I created these Cucuzza Sticks (pictured above) and they are DELICIOUS! My boys loved them and we dipped them in plain Greek yogurt mixed with a ranch packet (yogurt in place of sour cream!)...so easy and a fun alternative to fries, right?! and the recipe is on my Move It Momma's blog!


3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, that is one neat veggie. The boys look like they are having fun with it! Neat tribute to your GMA.

Chasing Rainbow said...

Hi Marissa,ha, those photos look funny (the boys are heavenly cute though.

I am stopping over from the Chickadee blog hop.

http://chasingmyrainbow baby.blogspot.com

Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too said...

I've never seen one, but it looks delicious! Zucchini is my favorite veggie, so I'm sure I'd love it!