cucuzza sticks...are you confused?!

As most of you know, I am Sicilian and I grew up knowing Cucuzza and watching my grandmother prepare Cucuzza stew!(pronounced Ko-KOOTZA or "googootz") but for most of you, you are probably TOTALLY confused...here's a little about them: Cucuzza looks like a smooth, pale zucchini with an elegant curvature and can be up to three feet in length. Its pale green skin needs to be peeled, and the white flesh is generally cooked rather than eaten raw. The flesh has an extremely mild taste and, even when peeled, holds its shape well when cooked. If the seeds are tender, you can eat them, but they start to get harder as the squash matures. If the seeds are hard, discard them. Cucuzza can be steamed, grilled, fried, baked, sauteed, stuffed, or used almost any other way you would use summer squash, as long but make sure you peel it first. My boys wanted to hold the baseball bat squash(that's what we used to call it!) cucuzza! And now that we're growing these in our backyard garden, we are trying to come up with fun and healthy ways to prepare! So, my first Cucuzza recipe...Cucuzza Sticks! YUM!

Move It Mommas Cucuzza Sticks

You'll Need:

1 lb cucuzza-peeled and sliced into strips, removing seeds

1/2 c Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 c panko breadcrumbs for some added crunch!

1/4 c parmesan cheese-grated

2 tbs flaxseed meal

2 beaten egg whites

Dip sticks in egg white, then breadcrumb mixture, lay on foil covered pan and bake at 425 for 8 minutes on each side or until golden brown! These are sooo yummy! We served with my Greek yogurt Ranch Dip(plain greek yogurt, 1/2 ranch dry packet and mix!!) SO good! I'll be making these more often!