Pasta con Tenerumi is one of the simplest, inexpensive and most delicious pasta dishes. Tenerumi are the leaves from the "cucuzza" squash. Similar to a zucchini, the cucuzza has large flat green leaves however these leaves are very "tender" and tasty. Since each region in Sicily has their own twist on how to prepare certain meals, this version my dad prepared is a "Palermitano" style Pasta con Tenerumi. We started by going to the local market and my mom hand picked the "best looking" cucuzza and tenerumi. After he cleaned the leaves, he chopped them up. Then he sautéed a few tomatoes in a lot of garlic and oil which he boil the leaves and cut up squash for about 10 minutes. Nonna was assigned "pasta prep" as she broke up regular DECecco spaghetti into short 1.5 inch pieces. The pasta in then thrown into the pot with the tenerumi and cucuzza to cook for about another 10 minutes. Once the pasta is ready, you add in the garlic, oil and tomatoes and its ready to serve!
