There’s no denying it. Chayote is the ugly duckling of the produce department or farmer’s market – especially if it’s the white prickly variety. You’ll normally find them green and smooth in the grocer’s aisle, but our neighbor proudly gifted us a bagful of prickly white ones from his garden. No matter – just like us, they’re all the same inside.
Technically a fruit (like tomatoes and zucchini), chayote is mostly treated like firm squash. The beauty of them is that they readily take on any flavor that’s cooked with them. In today’s recipe I chose pancetta (any smoked pork product will do) and garlic. If you’re vegetarian skip the pork and add a teaspoon of smoked paprika, instead. Sautéed or roasted, chayote comes out like potatoes. In fact, I told my notoriously finicky eater brother-in-law who shies away from vegetables that they were potatoes. The joke was on him when he asked for a second helping, and that’s when I told him the truth. Did he like the squash, or the pancetta? Who’s to say, but I got him to eat more vegetables!
Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):
The Great Flood of 2025: Tom and I thoroughly cleaned the ditches from branches and leaves, I swear! What we could not account for were neighboring houses and fields uphill that don’t take care of theirs. Sixty cm (about 2 feet) of rain fell in a period of six hours. The ditches couldn’t handle the amount and speed of the water, and they overflowed. The main County-owned ditch broke like a dam and rushed down our dirt road taking with it all the gravel and leaving huge, eroded potholes, rendering the road un-drivable. One of the culprits that caused the overflow was a huge tree stump filled with nails floating downstream from who knows where and it clogged the main drain. Grrr… People throwing debris into the ditches should be prosecuted! This most definitely includes contractors throwing home renovation materials into ditches instead of disposing of them properly.
This was the first time rainwater came toward our house as well. The flood created a lake, and the rushing water even stole four of our solar powered lights aligning our driveway. Maybe we’ll find them glowing in a field some evening. The next day the lake was absorbed into the ground but that didn’t make up for us spending hours, shovels in hand, doing road repair. Life in the country is beautiful they say…
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Ingredients
- 4 large chayote
- NON-VEGETARIAN VERSION: 3-4 ounces pancetta, bacon, guanciale, speck, or ham
- VEGETARIAN VERSION: 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika (skip this if using smoked pork)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher of sea salt (not iodized tables salt)
- 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon ground hot red chili (optional)
Directions
- Cut the chayote into 1/2-inch medallions (1 cm), trim away the skin from the perimeter and discard. Dice the medallions, but discard the center seed
- Place the diced chayote into a large sauté pan along with the pancetta, olive oil and salt. Toss to combine and set the heat to medium-low. Continue to heat, stirring occasionally until the chayote can be easily pierced with a knife and begins browning. Taste a piece to determine which texture you would like. I cook mine thoroughly until they are soft. Some people like them while they are still a bit crunchy, somewhat like jicama. Add the minced garlic in the last 2 minutes of sauteing and stir continuously. Taste and add more salt if needed
Greg Nelson Cooks 