Out of all the crops I grew in my garden this summertime , only one elicited more rum eyebrows and caused more whiplash injury than anything else — myZucchino Rampicante(Cucurbita moschata ) , an Italian heirloom courgette also known as Zucchetta Rampicante or Tromboncino squash .
These fecund specimens are a enthralling oddity , with recollective , slender , serpent - similar forms that slither vigorously around vines , trellises , fence , and sometimes each other . They look like crooknecks on steroid , develop up to 4 foot long if leave to their own devices . The bellying ends contain most of the seeds , while the necks are solid and unruffled .
My Rampicante foliage is among the more distinctive in the garden , having tumid , attractive leave with silvery clean variegation along their vein .
rightful to its name , Rampicante starts out much like any other vining squash — hefty leaves and clump of orange - yellow peak on long , trailing vines — but quickly becomes rampant , sprawling across the ground en masse and send down new roots at the nodes . It will take over your garden and likely even your neighbor ’s garden .
You ’ll be very well - fed though — I had two Rampicante plants that produced enough mash to sustain my whole street . Despite being a zucchini , its flavor is less like zucchini and more like butternut squash , to which it is more tight related .
Rampicante is also a rearing social climber and can be trellised on very magniloquent , uncompromising support . When the vines are allowed to climb , the zucchini tends to grow long and straight … but that ’s no fun !
Rampicante is a unique miscellany in that it is considered both a summer squash and winter squash . It can be harvest youthful at any stagecoach , when the cutis is striated and calx green in vividness .
It can also be allow for to mature on the vine until the skin hardens and turns a solid ecru , and treated as a winter squelch similar to butternut . When amply ripen at this stage , it will store for long period of time like any other wintertime squash .
I reap my Rampicante at the “ belittled ” stage — small being around 2 foot retentive , with the neck opening around 2 inches in diam . The colour is just starting to transition from green to beige .
The flavor and grain is said to be sweeter and more untoughened when it ’s still a petty green . I liken the taste to that of a very modest squash racquets with slenderly nutty spirit .
Since the flesh is so dull , it ’s perfect for broiling … especially grill for a company . A big , hungry party ! Slice up that 2 or 3 - pes foresighted neck opening into thick rounds , and load ’em up with thick - slice up heirloom Lycopersicon esculentum , pepperoni , romp and herbs , all topped with melted cheese . It ’s like pizza pie , only better .
