Calabacita o Bangaña Guisada [Video+Recipe] Bottle Gourd with Sausage
A lesser-known Dominican dish, this bottle gourd recipe was one of my family's go-to weekend dishes. Learn how to cook bangaña or calabacita.
Servings 4 servings
Calories 462kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound cooked longaniza (pork sausage) [0.45 kg], sliced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- 2 calabacitas (bottle gourd)
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
- 4 tablespoons minced parsley
Instructions
1. Peeling
- Peel the gourds with a potato peeler and dice.
2. Browning the longaniza
- Heat the oil over medium heat.Add the longaniza and cook, stirring until it browns.
3. Cooking vegetables
- Once the longaniza is browned, lower heat to medium. Stir in onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook stirring for 30 seconds. Add the diced gourd and cook stirring for another 30 seconds, lower heat if it looks like it might burn. Season with pepper, and oregano and tomato sauce and stir.
4. Simmering
- Lower heat and simmer covered until the gourd is cooked through, stirring often to cook uniformly (soft, but not too mushy, it takes around 15-20 minutes). Once the gourd is fork tender, season with salt to taste and stir in the parsley. Remove from the heat.
5. Serving
- Remove from the heat and serve.Find serving suggestions further above.
Video
Notes
At the beginning of the preparation, I'd rather not add salt, as longaniza can be quite salty. Once it's ready, adding salt to taste may be necessary.
Nutrition
Calories: 462kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 1628mg | Potassium: 697mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1315IU | Vitamin C: 51.2mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 2.8mg
