New Foods (at least to me): Long of Naples

New Foods (at least to me): Long of Naples

I’ll eat any new food (at least twice).

This morning, wandering around Green City Market while The Wife and our bevy of visiting Italian girls painted kids' faces, I spotted some big orange slices of vegetable wrapped in waxy paper. The sign said “Long of Naples,” and it was going for 75 cents a pound. The one I bought was a buck. Here it is:



Long of Naples is a heirloom Italian squash, and the nice man who sold it to me said my slice was cut out of a length of vegetable about two feet long and maybe twenty pounds.

When cooked, it looked pretty much as it does raw, and the texture was kind of a cross between spaghetti squash and pumpkin, though without the pumpkin's vile blandness, more sweet and very moist. I had thirds.

I bought some of this squash a while back at Evanston, and it kept very well uncooked for a couple weeks in my fridge. I really liked it, Himself not so much, because of the texture. But Himself is not so much of a squash fiend as I am, and prefers the texture of butternuts and kabocha. He professes a fondness for acorn squash baked with breakfast sausages and brown sugar in the middle, but I think that is nostalgia for his youth and if I cooked it he would not like it as much as he remembers. I should put him to the test. And then buy more of that Long Naples if I am proved right, as I found the texture of this squash not in the least disturbing, and in all respects found it superior to acorn squash:-)

Today at Evanston I saw these long pumpkins, they ranged from about 8 inches to about 16 inches long, were very cylindrical, the longest not being more than 6 inches or so in diameter. They were touted as pie pumpkins, but seemed very light for their size when I hoisted one. Having already purchased a squash, I passed.

A final note on squash, I am glad to see that some of the farmers who have organic and heirloom varieties of things have butternut squash that conform to the criteria my grandmother taught me were important in this most excellent of the squash--namely a long and slender neck, with a small but well-shaped body (seed) portion. As vegetables have been bred for smaller households, it seems that butternuts have morphed into these small bullet shapes that are distinctly out of keeping with my inherited criteria. I'm not sure it makes a difference, except in allowing me to feel that I am being a discerning shopper (and cook) when I take time to inspect and choose a (to me) satisfyingly shaped squash:-)

I wasn't so lucky with my slice of naples. I let it sit a bit too long in my fridge and it went soggy. However, with one more week in the farmer's market season, I am determined to remount this Neapolitan peak.

Hammond, how did you cook yours? I tend to default to roasting at, say, 375 for an hour or so. Anything special about cooking this squash?

gastro gnome wrote:Hammond, how did you cook yours? I tend to default to roasting at, say, 375 for an hour or so. Anything special about cooking this squash?

I meant to mention that; thanks for asking: we cooked our Long of Naples for a little more than an hour at 350 -- I remember thinking it was taking longer than I thought it would.

David Hammond wrote:When cooked, it looked pretty much as it does raw, and the texture was kind of a cross between spaghetti squash and pumpkin, though without the pumpkin's vile blandness, more sweet and very moist. I had thirds.

Pumpkin is actually quite tasty. It is sometimes a bit hard to see the amount of pumpkin (food) that gets 'wasted' at this time of the year.

I'm not sure if long of Naples grows in Asia, but there are various squashes and pumpkins that are used. I'm tempted to say this could easily be substituted. I'm thinking also that if the specimen was smaller and younger with a softer skin – the skin could be used too

But here's a simple suggestion to enjoy the taste and sweetness of the squash (which works with pumpkin too): cut into slices about ⅛ - ¼ inch thick (and maybe 2"x1" sized morsels). In a bit of oil shallow fry so that the outside is slightly crisp and caramelized and the inside is cooked. Season. If you want you could flavor the oil first with some dried herb or spice (and remove to avoid burning).