Tenerumi from the Union Square Greenmarket.
Recipe: Spaghetti with Tenerumi and Pomodoro Crudo
Often when cooking I find that just the look of an ingredient can inspire me. As a kid, when I first saw cucuzza growing in our neighbors’, the Cavuotis’, backyard garden, I knew that long, twisted, snaky zucchini type thing, which they called “zucca lunga,” was weird and mysterious and therefore attractive. I never knew what they did with it, and I was maybe a little afraid to ask.
I didn’t think much about zucca lunga for a decade or so after that, until it started showing up at city Greenmarkets. There it was, light green, really long, and just as weird as when I first spotted it taking over Mr. Cavuoti’s garden. I bought one, took it home, chopped it up, and went about cooking it as I would zucchini. Boy, what a disappointment. It was a bore.
Zucca lunga for sale in Sicily.
But as I learned a few years later, while traveling around Sicily for the first time, one of the treatments for zucca lunga is to candy it, just as they do with citron, and use it to decorate cassatas or cannolis. They also turn it into a dull, watery soup. But I also learned that the tendrils—the stems and leaves—are what are really prized. The beautiful, tangled greens the squash produces are a Sicilian summertime treat, usually worked into a soupy pasta dish. And that’s just what I made this week when I found tenerumi tied up in big, wild-looking bunches at the Union Square market. The tenerumi looked both lovely and frightening at the same time. I hate to say it, but to me the stuff almost looks like it’s moving. Its kinky coils resemble skinny worms poking their way out from amid a mass of stems and tender dark green leaves. That was fine with me.
A pretty standard Sicilian pasta consists of tenerumi, garlic, maybe a bit of hot chili, and tomato, all simmered together and finished with a sprinkling of pecorino. That is more or less the recipe I found in Natalia Ravida’s lovely book Seasons of Sicily, among other places. Broken spaghetti is the traditional pasta employed with tenerumi, but I always object to the messy look that produces, and I decided instead to just go with the regular pasta. Otherwise I didn’t stray far from the classic Sicilian rendition. I did, however, decide to keep my summer tomato raw, added only at the last minute, for a fresh burst of contrasting flavor and texture.
Tenerumi has a beautiful taste. Somehow I’d expect something so dramatic-looking to be bitter, but it’s actually very delicate. I’m not sure why, but its flavor reminds me of Chinese dishes that incorporate wilted greens, possibly because the taste is somewhat like pea shoots. But it’s much more subtle. Pea shoots taste like peas; tenerumi doesn’t really taste like the squash, and to me, in fact, the squash tastes like almost nothing.
I’m not sure what a good substitute for tenerumi would be. You could make a similar pasta with Swiss chard, I suppose, but this stuff really has a unique flavor and texture. I would say, if you find a bunch of tenerumi at your farmer’s market, pick it up and try this pasta.
Spaghetti with Tenerumi and Pomodoro Crudo
(Serves 2)
2 medium-size ripe summer tomatoes, seeded and cut into very small dice
Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 big bunch tenerumi, the tough stems trimmed
½ pound spaghetti
About ¼ cup small diced pancetta
3 summer garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 fresh hot chili (such as a jalapeño or a peperoncino) minced (remove the seeds if you like less heat)
A splash of dry Marsala
A handful of basil leaves, lightly chopped
A chunk of mild pecorino cheese
Place the diced tomato in a colander, sprinkle it with a little salt, and give it a toss. Let it drain over a bowl for about 30 minutes, and save the drained tomato water. Pour the tomatoes into a small bowl, and drizzle them with olive oil, giving them a toss.
Set up a big pot of pasta cooking water, and bring it to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt.
Cut the tenerumi into approximately 1- inch lengths, discarding some of the coily parts and any really thick stems that are still attached. Throw the tenerumi into the water, and blanch for about 3 minutes. Scoop it from the water into a colander with a large strainer spoon. Run cold water over it to bring up its green color. Squeeze as much water as you can from it. Bring the cooking water back to a boil.
Drop the spaghetti into the water.
In a large skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta, and let it get nice and crisp. Add the garlic and the fresh chili, and sauté until everything softens and gives off a good aroma. Add the tenerumi, seasoning it with salt. Sauté until the greens are well coated with oil and everything is fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the Marsala, and let it boil away. Add any tomato water you’ve collected from draining the tomatoes.
When the spaghetti is al dente, drain it, saving about ½ cup of the cooking water. Pour the spaghetti into a large serving bowl, and drizzle it with a generous amount of fresh olive oil. Add the basil, and grate on about a tablespoon or so of pecorino. Give it a toss. Now add the tenerumi sauce and enough of the pasta cooking water to moisten everything well (the dish should be a little loose). Toss well. Serve hot with extra pecorino brought to the table for grating.
That’s so cool that you found tenerumi. I had pasta with them the first time I visited Sicily, many years ago. I remember thinking that it was a strange dish, but then I tasted it and the thought vanished.
Hi Simona,
I’m so glad you wrote. I have a question you probably can answer. I was trying to determine the origin of the word tenerumi and came up with two possible answers. The word is used in Northern and Central Italy to describe tendons of meat, such as tenerumi d’Agnello, so I suppose it means tendons. But I also thought it might come from the verb tenere, which can mean to hold tenderly, possibly referring to the tender texture of this vegetable. What do you think?
And thank you for all your wonderful posts. You’ve got me brushing up on my Italian, something I’ve been needing to do for a long time.
Erica
Tenerume is Italian “soft stuff,” -ame and -ume being a suffix that means “stuff.” You find the -ame suffix in “salame” while -ume seems to have a slightly cloying connotation. So tenerume can also mean sentimental slop. I guess the tendons are the soft part of the bone structure? Not sure, but “tenerumi” are certainly the soft parts of plants and animals….
I first discovered tenerumi when travelling in Italy in a J-9 (the french equivalant of a VW van – but equipped with a nice little bed, and even littler kitchenette). Alas the J-9 broke down in Campagnia, and the mechanics held it hostage for 3 weeks. So we rented a shitty little car and headed to Sicilia. Good decision. We shacked up at a campground bungalow at the southern most tip of the island. Portopalo di Capo Passero. I was quite impressed that the bungalow’s kitchen came equipped with a food mill.
Anyway, I cooked a lot. At the local “supermarket” I stumbled upon this strange vegetable, tenerumi. I asked someone who worked there how to cook it. Following her advise, I made a simple soup with it, fresh tomatoes in the liquid, and finished it with chunks of caccio cavalo (spelling?) cheese at the very end.
Marvellous !
I often went back to that market, not just for ingredients, but for excellent recipes.
Hi, was wondering if zucca lunga has a name in English, too, as I’ve just made a minestra with it and wanted to post the recipe, but it feels a bit odd to keep writing its name in Italian… any chance you know that? Cheers! :)
Hi Framboise,
This is a squash, a type of gourd actually, that originated in Italy. Zucca lunga is its slang name. Its real name is cucuzza. I don’t know of any English name. I would just go with cucuzza.
Best to you,
Erica
Hehe, thanks, I actually know it is its slang name, as I am Italian myself — my parents are from Southern Italy, and I am currently visiting them there, and the other day my mum and I made a soup with it (here it’s pronunced “cocozza longa”, but it’s the same one as the one you saw in Sicily).
Still, the terms “squash” and “gourd” are new to me, so thanks for the info, I just learnt something new! :)
[…] means “pumpkin”. It is in fact a kind of squash, as Stef told me — or a gourd, as Erica […]
Erica, Where have you been all of my life! Boy. oh boy, can you cook! The real Sicilian girl! My grandmother would describe you as “a nice n girla” I have all your books, but would love to share some ideas with you, taught to me by my Sicilian family. Keep those creative thoughts going I love your expressions of great food! Thanks!
Kurt,
Thanks so much for the nice words about my work. Really appreciate it. And any ideas you’d like to pass along would be great.
Ciao,
Erica
Just returned from a wonderful trip to Italy. Visited the sites in Venice, Florence and rome then spent a week in Polizzi Generosa and Palermo. I love, love, love Sicily!!!! The food was so similar to what we eat but better!!!!! We had Tenerumi for the first time and can’t wait to make it here in Michigan. While in Palermo I bought seeds for the Cucuzza…I do hope they grow!!!!
I would love to know if you have a good recipe for Pasta ala Norma…
Thanks
Hi Andrea,
I’ve got lots of Sicilian recipes for pasta with eggplant up on my blog and you can search for those. Pasta alla Norma is just a pretty standard tomato sauce pasta topped with slices of fried eggplant and, as far as I’m concerned, finished with ricotta salata. There are many variations on this dish, but that’s what I regard as the standard. I’m not sure if I have this exact recipe up on my blog, but you get the idea. I’d make this in the summer with ripe tomatoes and eggplant in season. It’s a beautiful dish.
Ciao,
Erica
HELLO ANDREA,CAN YOU SEND ME INFO TO WERE I MAY GET THE SEEDS FOR THE CUCUZZA,
Hello John,
This isn’t Andrea, it’s Erica. But just to answer your question, you’ll be able to purchase cucuzza seeds from a company called ‘Seeds from Italy’ at http://www.growitalian.com. They also stock seeds for all sorts of Italian vegetables and flowers.
Sorry John for not responding. I have used Seeds from Italy that Erica mentions. It’s a great source. I’ve purchased more the the Serpentine Squash seeds. They’re bean seeds were absolutely amazing. The guy is a nice guy too. His catalog requires good reading glasses but there are tons of selections.
I enjoyed their thin small swish chard as well. I had tons of long snake like squash. My husband set up a fence so the vines could grow. It was really cool to watch them grow. I never made the dish I have been craving. My dilemma was when to actually pick the squash….should i let it grow longer? It was a tough decision. I gave all the squash to my father who hadn’t had it in years. This year I am replanting and hope to figure out when to pick them and when to inlude the leaves. I LOVE GARDENING! Now I am trying to find a bean that is only found in Polizzi Generosa where my family is from. It’s a bada bean. Have a great day.
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