Courgette from San Donato del PiaveSan Donato del Piave BIO (Cucurbita pepo)

Courgette from San Donato del Piave (Cucurbita pepo): also known in local tradition as Venetian zucchini or San Donà zucchini, this is an ancient and rare cultivar originating from the Piave River basin in the Venetian hinterland. A variety of excellent agricultural heritage value, it is distinguished by its slightly club-shaped, light green fruits, finely striped with cream tones and characterised by a thin and delicate skin. The plant has a vigorous, well-branched bush habit, with broadly lobed foliage that provides excellent cover for the fruits and is capable of producing a remarkable quantity of male flowers of a deep golden-yellow colour, perfect both for direct consumption and for traditional frying.

Early and fast-growing, it is well suited to the climates of Northern and Central Italy thanks to its marked ability to thrive in cool, alluvial soils. The inner flesh of the Zucchina di San Donato is dense, very white and free of pronounced seed cavities when harvested early, remaining exceptionally sweet and flavoursome, without bitter notes.

In the kitchen, it is wonderfully suited to the preparation of classic dishes from the Venetian and northern Italian tradition: the fresh fruits, sliced into rounds or diced, are ideal for enriching spring risottos, herb frittatas and vegetable stews, while the firmness of the flesh makes it excellent both for eating raw in salads and for sautéing in a pan with butter and sage, or steaming to preserve its natural sweetness.

In the field, it proves to be a rustic, very high-yielding variety that is easy to manage in the family or organic vegetable garden. It prefers well-sunny positions and expresses its full productive potential in well-drained soils. Irrigation should be regular and directed at the base of the plant without wetting the leaves, especially during the early stages of growth. Constant harvesting of the young fruits, when they reach a length of approximately 12–15 centimetres, stimulates the plant to continuously produce new flowering shoots and fruits throughout the summer season, until the arrival of the first autumn cold.