Monday, August 23, 2010

Cooking up Patty Pan Squash

I cooked up my first patty pan (or scallop or sunburst) squash today. I've never grown them before.  I posted a picture of a baby one on August 1; three weeks later, it was about 4" across.  I had no idea how big they were supposed to get before you pick them, so I finally googled today.  The one I picked was on the big side of the scale - apparently, you want them no more than 3-4" across, preferably smaller.  Who knew?



I've never cooked patty pan squash before either, so I also googled that while I was at it.  Apparently, the easiest way is simply to prick the skin and then steam them for 5-6 minutes.  We all know that "easy" has no appeal for me, so I went with a different recipe - chop up the squash, dot with butter, sprinkle with parmesan and whatever spices your heart desires, and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

The parmesan had a Mediterranean feel to it, so my heart decided to desire an Italian seasoning mix plus a dash of salt.



End result - it takes much longer than 15 minutes, though maybe my pieces were too big (methinks not, 15 minutes seemed terribly optimistic right from the get go).  Plan for 30-45minutes, depending on the size of your pieces.  The smell is heavenly, and the squash is pretty darn tasty.  Might try this again down the road, but for the time being, I will likely try other ways, just to see if there's something better.



Anyone have a recipe for me?

1 comment:

at the cottage said...

MMMMMm Yummy Jacki, looks good and who couldn't love squah with the name 'pattypan' - even me (with lots of butter and brown sugar!