“We have descended into tromboncino hell”, announced Pete.
Ha! And he reckons I’m the melodramatic one in the family.
After several weeks of staring at our giant trombies like a deer caught in the headlights, I finally brought in the large green one and cut it up. Pete was convinced that it would be flavourless at this size, but I just couldn’t bring myself to let so much produce go to waste.
The tromboncino had grown into something similar to a butternut pumpkin (squash) with hard, pale orange flesh. Using the food processor, I shredded a peeled portion of the neck and turned it into a large zucchini slice, using a fancy Italian hard cheese, leeks, prosciutto, self-raising flour and five eggs (the original recipe is here, and it’s infinitely adaptable).
I gave half to our neighbour Norm and his sons, and we ate the remainder as a couple of days’ worth of lunches. Even Pete had to admit that it was extremely tasty…
Another section of the neck was grilled in the sandwich press…
…and turned into an almost vegetarian lasagne, following this recipe. I sent two takeaway containers’ worth down the road, and the junior Dredgemeisters demolished them…
A third section was shredded and added to Jamie Oliver’s 15 Minute Thai Chicken Laksa Noodles. This dish used coriander and kaffir lime from our garden, as well as our new season asparagus which is just starting to shoot (yaay!). Pete loved this…
Half the flesh from the base was shredded, packed into a ziplock bag and stashed in the freezer…
The seeds were collected, washed and left to dry…
I’d originally planned on stuffing the remaining base half, but decided instead to try my hand at making a chocolate cake with it, using this signature recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini. I wasn’t optimistic, and had to ice the cake to hide the grated trombie that was showing on the top (or the boys wouldn’t go near it).
It was surprisingly delicious – moist , tender, and very, very dark – even the sceptical Big Boy went back for seconds…
We managed to use up the entire squash with almost no wastage!
Our friend Linda maintains that when the food apocalypse hits, we can all survive on tromboncinos, and I’m pretty sure she’s right. It almost makes me excited about the large orange one that’s still on the back deck!
(Hmm. I think I just heard my husband groaning in the background…)
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Yum…and Wow. That is huge!! We use it to make latkes.
Em, you’ve reminded me! We often make bhajis from the tromboncinos – we forgot this time! :)
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2013/01/30/tromboncino-bhajis/
“We have descended into tromboncino hell!”
This takes first prize, and I guess my title of Drama Queen Extraordinaire is in danger ;-)
Great job using that… that… that… thing! Particularly the cake. If your kids read your blog, which I’m sure they do, they might start inspecting chocolate cakes with a magnifying glass. ;-)
My kids don’t read my blog, actually. I asked Big Boy why he didn’t the other day, and he looked at me and said, “Mum, I LIVE your blog.” :)
Perfect answer! I love your boys, all three of them! ;-)
Well done on doing SO MUCH with your tromboncino Celia!
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, it just kept going! I really liked having so much vegetable to use – so much so that I’m thinking I’d like to let a few of them grow ginormous every year! :)
Brilliant use of that monster – so many wonderful dishes!
Chica, thank you! It was actually a lot of fun! A big daunting at first, but once we got going, it was very satisfying! :)
Now that is a tromboncino that kept giving and giving…amazing.
Karen, after I wrote this post, I brought in the giant orange one and shredded the whole thing through the food processor, and then bagged it all up and froze it. Everyone enjoyed the trombie dishes, but I don’t think they could face them again for another week in a row. :) In the end, the orange squash produced 32(!!) cups of shredded pulp! :)
Oh my goodness…that is amazing.
You two are totally amazing. Good on you. BTW one cake I can make is a chocolate zucchini cake which is delicious. I bet yours was too.
Glenda, we were so surprised by how good the cake was! It disappeared completely into the crumb – we couldn’t find any bits of stray trombie as we were eating it – and it used about half as much butter as our regular chocolate cakes! :)
Hi Celia, I just read the post on the chocolate and zucchini cake – I am interested. Very interesting. If you like I can email the recipe I have (I am going back to Perth tomorrow). It is a lot like a chocolate carrot cake.
I love that you were able to come up with so many dishes and feed so many people from 1 trombie!! How chuffed are you?! And, might I add, that last shot of the choc zucchini cake is AMAZING!! Look at that gorgeous light! I think I’d like to be in tromboncino hell any day ;)
Ha! You know me too well, Em, I was SO chuffed. Especially since Pete had already written off the giant trombies as overgrown and tasteless! And thank you, but as I always tell friends, I’m not a great photographer – I just have a skylight in my kitchen. :)
As my Dad would have said :
“They’re big enough to go to work.”
Hi ho hi ho, it’s off to work they go.. :)
I like the way you turned “hell” into a gastronomical paradise!
Great and inventive uses and the icing on that cake is brilliant!
Heidi, thank you – the icing is my lazy Jamie Oliver icing – 100g each of dark chocolate, icing sugar, unsalted butter and 60ml of milk. I made a half batch – it’s supposed to be made in a double boiler, but these days I just do it in the microwave. :)
What excellent use you’ve made of one monster tromboncino! Very inspiring.
Andrea, thank you! I was pretty pleased not to have wasted it – and it produced so many meals! :)
Was the cooked texture of the mature tromboncino similar to butternut squash? How much did it weigh? Did you parboil before freezing?
All those meals from one trombie, well done.
Norma, the raw texture of the trombie was like a squash, and the grilled pieces had a pumpkin/squash texture rather than a zucchini one. But the flavour was about halfway between. And no, didn’t parboil before freezing, just grated and put it straight into the oven. It made quite a dry grated product – not really wet like grated zucchini.
Pete’s comment is hilarious Celia and made me laugh out loud. I agree with Linda’s comment on the apocalypse too! Well done on using it all up though, so many great variations. Each dish/meal looks delicious.
The frost killed off my trombons at the start of winter. I have made a decision not to grow them again this summer, they have beaten me! I am going back to ‘normal’ old zucchinis just to give us a break. Happy cooking and gardening x
Hahaha…Jane, I can understand needing a break! Although the huge trombies were SO different to the smaller versions (more butternut pumpkin like rather than a zucchini), that we’re doing different things with it now. :)
Those trombies must have grown like the triffids. What an incredible size. You were so inventive with what you did with all that vegetable – I would never have thought of making a lasagne. I do love the look of that Jamie Oliver laksa. I can’t wait to see what you do with the next one xx
Charlie, the lasagne was very popular! The other trombie has been shredded through the food processor (it was a bit like the wood chippers that do the local trees) and frozen. No-one could face another week of trombie-based meals. :)
well done Celia a woman after my own heart. I was faced with a similar situation a couple of years ago when we returned for a short holiday after Christmas and found zucchinis the size of beer bottles begging to be picked. Nothing wasted of course, slices, jams, pickles, muffins, padding for hamburgers & meat loaves and so on. thanks for the continued inspiration
Sandy, I just read a lovely Stephanie Alexander story about how she came home one day after holidays and found a Lebanese round zucchini the size of a beach ball.. ;-)
Have just burst out laughing at your response to Sally describing Big Boy’s response to why he doesn’t read your blog…and it is late at night and others are trying to sleep…oops! Love your array of dishes using the giant trombie, especially the CAKE!
It was accompanied by an eye-roll and a pat on the head.. ;-)
Celia I think you should go and run Oz Harvest! Or maybe more to the point, hold conferences for chefs.
BTW do send that pic into Gardening Australia on the ABC.
Rose, you’re very kind, but I’m not always this creative! I have to admit though that it was nice being able to use the squash that we’d only grown for seed – I thought it was going to be chookfood! :)
OMG Celia. That is a monster. I can’t believe you still have them growing. I am going to try Tromboncino again this year. I haven’t had them for a few years but they are my favourite zucchini I think. I also did not know you could grill them in a sandwich press. Thanks for that fantastic tip.
Tania, they’re finished now – when they started to die off, we let these two grow so we could get seed from them. We’ve recently discovered you can do all sorts of veg in the sandwich press, here’s a post I wrote about it:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2013/03/08/the-garden-that-feeds-us/
Hehe I think you could even get a trombocino cookbook out of the amount of trombocino you have. BTW I still can’t believe the size of it!
Scary stuff, isn’t it? They were ginormous! :)
I simply cannot believe the size: what a wonderful ‘monster’ to have in one’s garden. No wonder Norma suggested that perhaps I better just begin with one plant :) ! That slice looks brilliant and I have made JO’s chicken laksa noodles and so enjoyed them!! And those seeds you have saved do have good genes: methinks there will be quite a few interested neighbours lining up for a few ;) !
Eha, we still have to test the seeds – fingers crossed that they germinate and then we can share them around! :)
You’ve taken waste not want not to a whole new level. I’m curious though – what are you going to do with the seeds? Eat them like pumpkin seeds? Surely you won’t plant them next year otherwise you really will be in trouble!
Nancy, we’re keeping the seed for planting – we’ll only plant another four plants next year I think – and for sharing! :)
Oh my tromboncino! Those things are mammoth! Good thing you’ve got room in your freezer. With 32 cups stashed away, you’ll be enjoying these squash for months to come. Still, if there’s anyone that can put it all to good use, it’s you, Celia. You’re far more creative in the kitchen than most. Even so, I can’t help but wonder how many plants you’ll grow next season. ;)
John, I was so excited by all the dishes we made that I suggested we grow more next year. Pete went pale. :) I’m so glad you saw this post – every time I write a tromboncino post, I think to myself, “oooh, I hope Chicago John enjoys this one..” :)
Smile? I laughed out loud when I saw the picture! I can’t wait to see the next post featuring them. You know there’ll be at least one more. ;)
Not any time soon, if Pete has anything to say about it. :)
You are so awesome. This made me smile.
Vita, you are so kind! Your comment made me smile! :)
That Tromboncino is big enough to star in a children’s story – The Great, Big, Enormous Tromboncino. And if your neighbours start growing them you could have Tromboncino Throwing Festivals like the Scots do in their Highland Games with the Hammer throwing competitions. Come the Apocalypse they would provide food,and fun!
Jan, maybe we could hollow it out and keep our children in there, like the old woman in the shoe, or Peter, Peter, Tromboncino Eater.. ;-)
Wow, that is huge…don’t know what a tromboncino is..is it like pumpkin?? what does it taste like…is the monstrous green thing a zucchini?? You are very creative to have used it in so many recipes….well done !!
Sue, I wrote a bit about them here:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/12/19/tromboncinos/
Gosh so many cooments to scrool through to get to the bottom to comment! I have made that cake when I got to Z for Zeb and Zuchinni doing the Alphabet thing, iand it was just fine, I gave one to Mitch for her boys and they scoffed it down. Sister in law just sent a bag of courgettes back with Brian who was over there, so I might try some of your suggestions here. We had some amazing feta, mint and courgette fritters with a spicy tomato sauce the other day when we went out for supper. He keeps nagging me to try and make them at home. I am so glad my dwarf zucchini plant isn’t quite that prolific but produces a decorous one or two fruits eery couple of days ! Have you ever tried pickling your trrombones? I pickled a yellow marrow the other day just to see if it would work, haven’t opened the jar yet xx
Fritters! That’s the one thing we haven’t tried, although we have made bhajis with them (which I really liked, but it was less of a hit with the boys). I’ve tried make zucchini pickles before, but no-one really liked them, which is a shame. Oh, and I wanted to let you know, we planted fennel last week! I thought of you! :)
Ooh what sort of fennel did you plant? the ones which make bulbs or the herb sort? I have been pulling up pairs of leaves all summer and adding them to salads, muttering ‘micro herbs’ to myself. I have also sown some ‘colosalle’ for the winter as they did so well here last autumn.
The bulb sort! I adore them on pizzas!
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/05/21/aussie-pizza/
the cake looks awesome. I also hate waste Celia :)
Tandy, you’ve had made a brilliant sourdough loaf with it, I’m sure! :)
Either you’re much more imaginative, or my family are more conservative than yours, Celia – I’m being buried by an avalanche of courgettes(zucchini) at the moment, and can’t find enough new ways to use them, that they will enjoy! I’m not sure why I grew 5 plants, except that some years we get very few!
Suelle, you might like Clotilde’s cake – it’s surprisingly good, and quite low fat. I THINK there was an olive oil option for it too, instead of butter! Five plants – I can understand that, most years we don’t get any zucchini at all!
What a great use for the zucchini and squash, all the dishes looked absolutely delicious! …I wouldn’t have let it go to waste either ;)
Julie, you’re feeding a tribe of wolves too! They would have loved the slice! :)
I know! Hungry wolves ;)
[…] morning Celia posted a chicken laksa she made and again, all inspired, tonight we’ll be sitting down to a […]
I’m impressed!
Thanks love! :) x
My goodness me! What huge veggies. I am so impressed at the array of dishes that you prepared from the one! Hate waste and you have done so well! I have the Jamie 15 minute book and have already bookmarked the Chicken Laksa recipe to make after a friend told me it is so delish. Will definitely make it soon after seeing this. Look forward to seeing what you do with the other one!
Colleen, it’s not a very authentic laksa, but it did taste very nice! The other one has been grated and frozen – no-one could face another week of trombie-based dishes! :)
Wht bounty, Celia, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes at the size of those things. And how clever of you to have found so many uses for the amazing veg. That lasagne especially made me drool :)
Cindy, thank you – we considered keeping them as purely ornamental gourds for a while, but I couldn’t bear the food wastage! :)
Love this! I once put a large zucchini in our breakfast omelette, soup for lunch, and sauteed it up for dinner, just waiting for Matt to notice. He did. HA! Okay, maybe I should have spread it out over more than one day! LOL.
You are so resourceful using your tromboncino, it is gigantic compared to my zucchini. Though it could scare him if I tell him your story of eating it for a week! ;) Gonna have to go make some cake with zucchini now …
Judy, the cake was really surprisingly good – no-one expected it to be! But every member of the family ate it, which is pretty good given how fussy they are about their cakes! :)
I’ve never seen anything like these tromboncino’s but I think I’d be intimidated by them. You certainly have a talent for solving the problem of what to do with them but the grilled ones that you turned into a lasagna….pure genius.
Diane, thank you – the lasagne was Pete’s favourite! I really did just look at them for a few weeks with no idea where to start – luckily they’re like pumpkins and keep for ages! :)
AWW laksa I suddenly have an urge to cook it at home now too after eating it for nearly 10 days. I love the slices done in the sandwich maker. I cant believe they grew so big
T, we grew about half a dozen giant ones last season, these two were the biggest! Welcome back, we’ve missed you! :)
and i thought zucchinis were scarily fecund! x
Jane, I’m still wondering if they would have grown any bigger if we’d left them…
I don’t think I’d ever heard of trombocino until you started cooking with them. I’m in awe of your determination not to waste a skerrick – when defrosted, are the grated bits slushy or fine to use in any way?
Amanda, I’ve just defrosted a bag to try it out – they came out very wet, but I just drained them in a sieve. They seem ok – trombie slices are in the oven now!
My first tromboncinos of the season are up – tiny cute little first leaves. There are a dozen of them in the seed raising tray, and last summer is far enough back that I am actually thinking about planting out three of them, and giving the others to neighbours. But on second thoughts, if I do that, then I won’t be able to offload my excesses on them. Now what to do….
Linda, this made Pete laugh – personally, I think you’re better off to give the neighbours harvested trombies – if they start growing their own, you’ll never get rid of them! :)
See size matters! Look at all those goodies.
Ha! Only where squash are concerned, Gregory. :)
One day I’m going to try this… the G.O. is mellowing, eating more veges than ever (last night roasted heirloom carrots), and I reckon I he’d be fine If I presented any of those dishes. I never cease to be amazed at the variety of ways veges can be used, with just a bit of creativity, or in your case a lot :)
ED, thank you, but not really my creativity – I think zucchinis and squashes have been plaguing gardeners in glut proportions since the beginning of vegetable gardening, so there are squillions of recipes to use them up! :)
I loved this post Celia. It goes to show how many things you can do with an ingredient when you put your mind to it. Zucchini slice is a popular stand by in our house and that’s the first thing I thought of. I like the sound of thd chocolate cake so have bookmarked that to give it a go at some stage.
You might like to try this receipe too that I adapted from Souvlaki for the Soul. http://tiffinblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/easy-peasy.html
Fiona, thank you! Zucchini fritters! That’s one thing we haven’t made yet! :)
Hi Celia, as usual I enjoy your blog posts immensely. I especially love what you did with the large amount of lovely flesh….I like to think I’m very creative in the kitchen with large harvests too. I’m thinking the two community gardens I’m involved with would benefit greatly growing these, especially with preserves for fund raising stalls.
When is the best time to plant them, could they be a summer crop?
Could you tell me where you got the seeds from originally….I think I’ve asked before but I could do with a reminder.
Thanks again for a lovely post, as always
Narelle
Narelle, thank you for your kind comment, so glad to hear you’re enjoying the blog! The trombie seed originally came from our friend Linda, but you can also buy them at both Diggers and the Italian Gardener. You’re down Wollongong way – is that right? If the seeds we collected germinate when we try them out, I’d be happy to send you some.. :)
Dear Celia, I’d love to have some seed, it’s greatly appreciated.
You can email me thru …… npe09777 (at) bigpond dot net dot au
Now I know what to do with the giant courgette that I’ve been ignoring, which is stupid because it keeps getting bigger. I was toying with the idea of just lobbing it over the wall but now I have a whole list of things to cook. Inspiring as ever Celia and how very restrained you were with that first photo. So many different ways to hold a giant tromboncino.
Anne, you are very naughty. :) Pete had actually suggested tossing the entire trombie in to the chook pen, but he wasn’t sure they’d eat it! :)
They are huge, immense & Waw even! Great recipes to use them up, Celia! 😉
Thanks Sophie! They were were enormous! :)
I thought so too! ;) x
Holy cow those are big. Aren’t you clever to come up with ways to use the whole thing. I wonder if you could cut them into small sections, hollow and fill them with a Middle Eastern type filling?
Maureen, that was what I’d originally planned to do with the base, but it was the size of a small watermelon! The neck of the trombie doesn’t have any seeds, it’s all flesh, so I couldn’t really hollow out that bit. It’s a nice idea though, and one I might try if I pick a slightly smaller one next year.. :)
Very impressive indeed Celia! I wonder if you could pickle it them or include them in a picalilli? I’m not surprised Pete is a bit disconcerted with the size of the veggies- they look like they intend to take over the world! Xox
Becca, I’m not a fan of piccalilli, or zucchini pickles, which is a shame, as they really would be perfect for that!
[…] other day, I was reading Celia’s post, One Giant Tromboncino, where she mentioned she had made a chocolate zucchini cake with some of the tromboncino. It […]
That tromboncino is really huge and the vegetarian lasagna does sound deliscious!
Thank you! It’s become a favourite here! :)
I’m seriously in awe of its size. Thats in-sane!!!
Nic, they were gigantic! Not sure we’ll let them grow quite that long again! :)
Hi there. Just thought your readers might like to know that I got a punnet of Diggers Tromboncini Zucchini today at Bunnings.
Cheers
Narelle
Narelle, I’m so excited to hear that, thank you!!
First time for growing tromboncino squash. We live in SE USA, have a problem with squash borers and heard Tromboncinos are resistant, unlike our favorite yellow squash and other summer squash. We wanted to try them as summer squash. Deep south people are addicted to our summer squash, but we don’t eat much winter squash. We fry or sauté or make squash pudding with crookneck and hoped I could find some recipes for the younger, immature tromboncino. We tried some babies, but no real flavor there. How mature should they be to be flavorful, and can anyone tell me how to cook them as immature young squash???
Hi Ann, have fun with the trombies! We had great trouble growing them this year – the ones we ended up with were all crosses and not true trombies at all, but they were still delicious. We let our immature ones grow to about a foot long, then use them as we would zucchinis (courgettes). When mature, they don’t have as much flavour as regular pumpkins, so they’re best suited to using with other things rather than on their own.