Category: "Serpent of Sicily"
Serpent of Sicily
A week or two ago I was at the farmers market and spotted a vegetable I had never seen before; turns out that it's called Serpent of Sicily. I bought one on the spot out of culinary curiosity. The woman at the booth was kind enough to hand out a printed recipe for cooking the vegetable, which today I made. The recipe is simplicity itself, and it was home-cooked tasty.
Procedure
- Cook one onion in a small amount of water. Use a red onion and the broth turns out a rose color.
- Skin the gourd and cut into slices.
- Once the onion i scooked, add the gourd, one chopped tomato, and a touch of salt.
- Cover and cook
- Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, crunchy bread, and shaved baked ricotta,
The longer it cooks, the richer the flavor.
I think the one I bought was just a bit too big: parts of it were getting woody, and some of the seeds were too tough to chew. Next time I won't buy one longer than two feet or thicker than two inches.