Fusilli with Hablitzia, zucchini and pine nuts

Puoi trovare la ricetta in italiano qui: Fusilli con Hablitzia, zucchine e pinoli.

Information about Hablitzia

Hablitzia tamnoides, is the only species of the genus Hablitzia, it is a herbaceous perennial plant from Caucasian regions. It belongs to the Amaranthaceae family and is related to the beet (genus Beta), but unlike the beet or spinaches, it is a vine and can climb up to 3 metres in the summer!

The common name of Hablitzia is Caucasian spinach, or perennial climbing spinach. Indeed, it is used in the same way of the spinach, and once cooked the taste is not much different.
My little plant is three years old, and since I don't have a vegetable garden (yet!) I am growing it in a pot. Despite the small space available it is giving me great satisfactions and it's growing well and healthy. After the long winter, it wakes up in spring with new fresh shoots, increasing their number every year. The shoots are the tastier parts. You can cut them leaving 10 cm of the plant, and this stimulate the production of new shoots. In the spring I cut the shoots about 2-3 times, and then I let the plant grow. In late spring and summer I remove only the top part and some leaves along the plant. Hablitzia has a fast growth rate, so you can cut as many leaves and tips as you like, and it will grow back fast 😊

Recipe: Fusilli with Hablitzia, zucchini and pine nuts

Ingredients

Olive oil
Garlic
Chilli
1 small courgette
5 cherry tomatoes
Hablitzia shoots and leaves
Basil
Toasted pine nuts
parmisan
70 g pasta (fusilli or other type)

- Chop the garlic and gently stir fry it in a pan with some chilli in a Tbsp of olive oil.
- Cut the courgette in small strips, and stir fry them together with the garlic and the chopped tomatoes. Blend with a little bit of white wine. Cover the pan and let it cook until the zucchini will start to get soft.
- Add the Hablitzia shoots and leaves and cook them until wilted.
- In the meanwhile cook the pasta, and once cooked moved it in the pan with the condiment.
- Add the basil and a little bit of parmisan.
- Serve with the toasted pine nuts on top and a sprinkle of parmisan.

Buon appetito!