Behold the Cucuzza (Googootz!)

Yesterday I mentioned I had to my daughter's utter delight, picked up a cucuzza (pronounced googootz) from the local produce stand. Cucuzza is an Italian squash, similar in taste to a zucchini, but is very long and thin. I bought it mostly for the novelty, as my father in law is Italian and I had heard him speak of his mother cooking cucuzza a few times- I thought it would be fun for nostalgia's sake. I spoke with him Saturday night, was given instruction as to how to prepare the unwieldy squash, and plans were made to cook it in a traditional Italian dish.

Look at this baby and her squash! Anyways, Sunday morning, the day we were supposed to cook, I woke up with a splitting headache, a swollen throat, an aversion to light and noise- I may have woken up a vampire. I'm not sure. I sent my husband to my inlaw's house with the prepped cucuzza and a two year old, and those dear souls did double duty cooking and caring for the sweet little one- even braving the grocery store and bringing me Sudafed. On top of all that, dear husband came back with huge bowls of spaghetti sauce and the cooked cucuzza- could they be any more kind?

It is delicious! It was served with pasta, or course, but I'm going to try it with konjac noodles, as I try to keep my carbs low and I am generally just all around weird. So delish!