Zucchinis mean summer! They are good from June to September.
Origin
Zucchinis, or courgettes, belong to the Cucurbitaceae family, just like pumpinks. They come from Central America, altough Italy was the country in which they were mainly consumed. The word “zucchini” is used in american english to talk about this food: in italy courgettes were so popular (in italian are called “zucchine”) that immigrants brought the word to USA.
Cookit
Courgettes can be eaten both raw and cooked and it is an extremely versatile ingredient. You can grill it, fry it, stuff it, bake it, saute it as a side dish for rice or pasta and even grate it to prepare pies. Zucchini flowers are delicious when dipped in a light batter and then deep frid or when stuffed and baked in the oven.
Did you know that
Zucchinis, just like carrots, have been used recently to prepare vegetable spaghetti that can be eaten raw or flesh boiled. You need to grab the vegetable vertically, from the side that resemble a spaghetti and dress as you prefer (there are mixers that are able to to this).
