If nothing else, saying the word pattypan is a fun thing to do. Try it. See, you can’t help but smile when you say, “pattypan.” Pattypan, or patty pan, squash is an adorable summer squash which looks a bit like a flying saucer. It’s also known as granny squash, scallop squash and button squash among other names. It can be white, yellow, green, orange or even multicolored and it’s tender flesh can be easily scooped out and mixed with other ingredients to make a tasty stuffing. And that’s the idea this week – to bake up some stuffed squash. This recipe could also work with other summer squash, such as zucchini.
Side note: I’ll be honest and tell you that squash is not exactly my favorite vegetable. I try to like it. I definitely eat my share of it. But to me, squash itself is bland and often cooks up mushy no matter how hard you try to keep it from doing so. I do like zucchini noodles thanks to the spiralizer gadget I acquired a few years back. However I do suggest serving those noodles raw with whatever sauce or dressing you prefer in order to keep them nice and al dente.
Now, back to the stuffed squash, which is my favorite way to eat squash. You get a lot of flavor as the hollowed out squash insides soaks up the flavors of the filling. And the filling options are endless. You can do a filling with any kind of ground or shredded meat or a strictly vegetarian filling. The genre of seasoning can be anything from simple salt and pepper to Italian, Mexican, Asian or you-name-it flavors.
Here I’m giving you both a vegetarian option and a meat filling option. Alter the spices to suit your own tastebuds and most of all, have fun cooking and saying the word pattypan over and over as fast as you can!
Stuffed Pattypan Squash
Makes 4-6 servings
- 4-6 pattypan squash (plan on one squash per person), halved and cored
- Several swirls of olive oil, plus more for baking sheet and inside of squash
- Squash meat, finely chopped
- ½ yellow or white onion, diced small
- 1 carrot, diced small
- 1 stalk celery, diced small
- 3-4 Yukon Gold or red potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size cubes
- Pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 clove garlic, smashed and finely minced
- ½ - 1 cup grated parmesan or other cheese of choice
- Italian herbs or other herbs of choice, for garnish
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
Slice off a tiny bit of the stem and blossom end of the squash to create a level surface. Cut squash in half. Scoop out seeds and pulp, leaving about a ¾ inch wall. If you can scoop out a bit of the squash meat itself, do so and then chop that up to mix with other filling ingredients.
Lightly oil inside and sides of squash. Bake in oven, cut side down for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, flip over and fill each squash with filling.
To make filling, heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and add several swirls of olive oil. Once hot, add chopped squash pieces, onion, carrot, celery and potatoes. Stir to coat the veggies in the hot oil. Add seasonings and continue to cook and stir occasionally until carrots and potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Stir in garlic and cook for another minute or two.
Remove from heat, taste and add more seasonings as desired.
Fill up each squash with the filling mixture then sprinkle each filled squash with cheese of choice. You can use shredded parmesan or mozzarella, grated cheddar, Swiss or whatever cheese you love. Bake uncovered for another 15 minutes until squash is tender and cheese is melted.
Garnish with dried or fresh herbs of choice.
Alternate Meat Filling
- 1 – 1 ½ pounds ground meat (this can be a combination of ground beef and ground pork or even ground chicken or turkey)
- Other ingredients as listed above
Brown the meat in a large skillet. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
In a separate skillet, cook the veggies with seasonings according to above recipe.
Once meat is nicely browned, stir the softened, cooked vegetables into the meat. Stir in a handful of raw spinach or arugula if desired. Continue to cook for only another minute or two.
You can replace the potatoes with 1-2 cups of cooked and drained orzo pasta or rice.
Continue as above, stuffing each squash half with the filling mixture and baking until tender and cheese is melted.
