When you grow tromboncinos, you have to accept one indisputable fact.
If the plants like your garden, then you are going to be overrun with trombies. Our four little seedlings have colonised the adjacent bed, climbed over two camellia trees and are now hanging over the neighbour’s fence. And don’t think they’ll finish up peacefully once the weather gets cold – these plants are incredibly hardy. Linda told me that hers kept producing all through winter, although ours are now struggling a bit with the recent cold change.
I’m not complaining – we’ve had a wonderful bounty, and it’s been a treat to always have a vegetable in the crisper drawer! I’ve become quite creative at using them – in everything from bhajis to warm salads to savoury slices. We’ve made grilled vegetable lasagne, stir fries (flavoured with either oyster or yellow bean sauce), added them to our pasta soups, and created a ripper satay chicken and tromboncino main dish. My neighbour Liz even brought over chocolate trombie cupcakes last weekend!
It’s probably fair to say though that the boys are getting just a teensy bit sick of them…
The most recent harvest of our rampant zucchinis (as they’re known in Italian) have been turned into a thick soup. I’ve made several large batches and stashed them in the freezer, to be eaten over winter as simple, warming lunches (note that the soup will need whisking back to smoothness once it’s been defrosted).
The soup consisted of:
- chopped tromboncinos (and zucchini, if available)
- one large, peeled and chopped potato
- Spanish onions, peeled and chopped
- homemade chicken stock (leftover from poaching chicken)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Piment D’Espelette (only about half a teaspoon or so to a large pot – it’s potent stuff)
All the vegetables were fried in a little olive oil until just starting to brown before adding the chicken stock. The pot was brought to a boil, and then simmered, covered, until the vegetables were soft. Then it was simply a case of blitzing the entire mixture until smooth (I used a handheld stick blender), and seasoning to taste.
It really couldn’t be easier, and I thought the end result was delicious, so I asked Big Boy to taste it for me.
“Hmm. It’s very nice, Mum. The only problem is that it tastes a bit like tromboncinos..”
Sigh. I guess I’ll be the only one eating it out of the freezer!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
We make a chocolate zucchini cake that is moist and delicious- of course it does contain zucchini- but it doesn’t taste like it!
Heidi, the trombie chocolate cupcakes that Liz brought over were fantastic! :)
No getting tromboncinos past Big Boy! Sounds like a heavenly soup Celia.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, I defrosted some for lunch today, and really liked it! Plus it was easy, and warm, and it’s quite cold here today. How’s the weather in your part of the world?
We have been enjoying the most wonderful warm days of late – think we are going to be in for a shocker of a winter then – I will just enjoy it while I can. :-)
looks yummy love all your cooking john
John, so nice to see you last night! It was good not to have to waste any of our tromboncinos! :)
I haven’t seen those growing here, but I suppose they must. The lovely zucchini and pumpkin flowers are appearing everywhere right now.
Debra, apparently there’s a variety called the Serpent of Sicily! Zucchini flowers are divine, I don’t know why we don’t eat the flowers of ours…
I love soup and I’d be happy with it. I know what it’s like to eat the same veggies over and over when there’s a glut. At some point John will always say, “enough, I want something new. Give the rest away.” :)
Pete says, “feed the worms and the chickens!” :)
I have never seen trombies here, what a strange shape they are! I’d love a bowl of your soup.
Sue, you’d be proud of me not wasting any of them! I think the soup is delicious, all the more so for being a free meal! :)
I had a laugh when I read this because we had several zucchini plants last year and got nothing!!! Not one single zucchini!! Oh well, I guess they didn’t like us. But I’d like to have some of your soup- looks delish! xx
Em, until this year we’ve had a shocking run with zucchs – even the neighbours were growing them by the bucketload, but we would hardly have any! We’ve done better this year, because we figured out we had to hand pollinate all of them, and that they like to grow in a raised mound. Maybe you could try trombies this summer?
Hi Celia
I wish I could have sent you some cucumbers or tomatoes in exchange for your tromboncinos. Variety is the spice of life!!
Glenda, I can’t even imagine what you’d end up with if YOU planted tromboncinos! I’ve heard of green thumbs, but yours is just amazing! :)
A couple of years ago we even had zucchini growing in our compost bin.
Hahaha…I’ve heard that about pumpkins, but never zucchinis! :)
Hahaha oh Big Boy that’s pretty funny. You are so clever to have thought of so many ways to use them Celia! What about trombonchino chips?
Claire, it’s a great idea but they don’t seem to work – they go soft and floppy after extended baking, rather than crispy! I really do think we’re approaching the end with this cold weather, but you can never be sure with these plants! :)
That soup looks really good. I make a zucchini cake with a cream cheese frosting. I’m sure you could put trombonchinos into the mix instead of zucchinis. I wonder if your sons would pick up on it! xx
Charlie, that’s what I’m keen to make – a zucchini/trombie version of a carrot cake!
No slipping any past him Celia! Maybe by mid winter the boys will have forgotten all the trombo based meals and be ready for some delicious sneaky soup. If all fails, add more garlic and float a cheesy crouton on top and that might distract them. Smoke and mirrors Celia, smoke and mirrors :) xox
Becca, they’re still happily eating them in stir fries and curries, just trombie-only meals are hard to sneak past them. Smoke and mirrors indeed, darling. :)
I would love trombochino soup but the G.O. would detect the trombochino just like he did the choko I tried to slip into a casserole. That said, when we get a garden, I’ll sneak a trombo in there :)
ED, there’s no sneaking in a tromboncino. The thing’s a monster! :)
Hehe do you ever have dreams of being overrun with tromboncinos like triffids? :P
As I said, I’m NOT going to watch scary movies with you and Maureen! :)
Definite plans just formulated:
1. Make said soup for the weekend making do with the big dark green zucchinis in the fridge.
2. Begin spring ‘seedlings to plant’ list early, putting tromboncino ones on top of the list. The word ‘rampant’ does grab me :) !
Oooh Eha, I love dark green zucchinis! We grew some for the first time this year! I found some seeds here today – you might not need to go to Diggers:
http://theitaliangardener.com.au/products/SQUASH-%28Zucchetta%29-tromba-d%27Albenga.html
Thanks heaps: after a huge morning of food shopping have actually been on site, found it VERY interesting and hope to be back during the weekend with my credit card provided my square eyes from Giro d’Italia [and all the upcoming snow – in May!!] adjust to something with which to read more sensible matters :) !
LOL. I would be the one eating this at our place, Celia. Looks and sounds delicious though… and I love that you are not wasting home grown produce.
Lizzy, it’s hard to waste it when it’s grown so well! But everyone’s nearly sick of them, including the chooks!
The ‘lot’ of a mother isn’t it to eat all the things that everyone else doesn’t want :-)
Sigh. That’s so true, Brydie! :)
I was beginning to worry, Celia. It’s been a few posts since tromboncini were mentioned and I thought you may have pulled them. I know. I should have known better. Your soup does sound delicious and will come in handy this Winter. So what if the others don’t want any. You’ll be eating very well. :)
John, I think of you often when I bring in a tromboncino. Never let it be said that you all haven’t been sharing the pain with us…hahaha
Don’t worry, if they are hungry they will enjoy the soup :)
Tandy darling, they’re NEVER hungry here! :D
I’ve never heard of tromboncino’s before but this soup looks very interesting.
Jan, they’re great fun to grow, but they take up heaps of room!
Hi Celia,
I was wondering whether you’d be willing to send me some tromboncino seed, if you’ve saved any this year. We have trouble growing zucchinis as well (we sowed seed in December and we guess it was due to Sydney’s humid summer) and I wonder whether or not tromboncinos will be the answer for us next year. Sorry if it’s a bit impertinent of me to ask.
Ivy
Hi Ivy, it’s not impertinent, but so far the ones we’ve saved haven’t germinated! We might need to let another one grow to full size and try saving them again. The original seeds which Linda sent us came from the Digger’s Club, but I’ve also seen an Italian variety which you can order from the Italian gardener:
http://theitaliangardener.com.au/products/SQUASH-%28Zucchetta%29-serpente-di-Sicilia.html
I’m going to order some of the Italian ones and see how they compare! :)
Thank you for this extra info, Celia! Admittedly my Digger’s Club membership has lapsed but that can be rectified in five minutes flat :) !
Am planting tromboncino for the first time this year. Hope they do as well as yours.
Norma, how exciting! Fingers crossed they do well in your garden! (And then you’ll come up with wonderful recipes for the rest of us who are overrun with them!) :)
Have you tried making a soup with a combination of peas (frozen even!) and these little fellows? I made a green pea and courgette soup that’s always slurped down quickly here, so maybe those trombie thingies would work?
Misky, that is a REALLY good idea, thank you. I’ve always got frozen peas in the freezer – I don’t think the timing will work for having both peas and trombies growing in the garden at the same time…
Looks lovely and tromboncino always remind me of lovely Italian ortos with an abundance of gorgeous vegetable climbing crazily – so very pleased to be reminded.
Andrea, they’ve been a joy to grow! We rarely grow a glut of anything, and it’s actually really nice to do it for once!
These are the plants that keep giving and giving. :)
Karen, they really have been extraordinarily generous! :)
Celia this is wonderful. You know I am always nice jealous of people who grow their own…I am proud to say I am growing basil from seeds in my apartment…LOL..great soup…
Norma, it’s tricky in an apartment! But you get to see eagles from your balcony! :)
Can’t wait to plant these! I want a crisper full of available green vegies without having to run to the shops. Great recips Celia, don’t worry about Big Boy not liking it, it’ll ‘grow’ on him ;)
Lisa, that’s the coolest bit – opening the fridge and always finding a veg to cook! Do plant them – but be warned, they need a lot of room, and they’re inclined to ramble! :)
i’m not familiar with the tromboncino but i plan to be! your soup looks so lovely with the flecks of chilli..are they drops of oil on top too?
Jane, I’m almost scared to mention them to you – I saw what you did with cucumbers and zucchinis this year. I can only imagine how many tromboncinos you’d end up with! :) Yes, little drizzle of oil on the top! x