It was a timely present to receive a trombetta squash. 70cm long! A curious vegetable. The seeds are all at the top. It was given to me on the day that the lovely young trumpeter Aaron Akugbo was the soloist with the Chineke! Orchestra playing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto at the Proms.

I used half the squash, skinned and cut into slices about 1.5 cm thick. I roasted these two ways; one with olive oil and a pinch of salt and the other – as I often cook courgettes – with salt, turmeric, Aleppo chilies and cumin seeds stirred into the oil. The results were silky and tender. I served them together with tomatoes much more robustly flavoured.

Another dish that worked well – still using the same squash – was salmon roasted with a za’atar crust (a recipe already give on this site) served with the squash simply cut into lengths about 8 cm long and then quartered, gently fried in butter with a few drops of oil.

In truth, any courgette recipe should work well.