Still plenty of summer squash

And the winner is. . . . .Patty Pan!!!  By far the most prolific squash in our garden this summer has been the Patty Pan.  Without fail our one and only plant has supplied us with more squash than we can eat.  I pick at least 2 - 3 Patty Pan each day. We also grow a light green zucchini and one that is dark green and shaped like a ball, which is my favorite, but the chore this summer has been keeping up with those little yellow flying saucers.  I'm a little sorry to report that things seem to be winding down in the garden, all of the squash are showing signs of mildew on the leaves, but still, they just keep on producing.  I think I'm headed for another round of Chocolate Zucchini Cake tomorrow.

Last week it was cool, rainy, and really felt like winter.  This week we are blessed with sunshine and temperatures in the 80's.  I was sure that our summer harvest was about over, but Mother Nature has fooled us again.  I may be lucky enough to get a few more cucumbers and tomatoes. Today I harvested the last of my rhubarb, and braided some of our garlic that had been drying in the garden shed. Oh, and picked the Patty Pan.

We had a simple, but tasty dinner of pasta with three kinds of squash, barely cooked in olive oil with garlic.  You may want to try this one.  It is so easy and very good.

Susan's Pasta with Squash Trio

1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
spaghetti
three summer squash, cut into match sticks (about 3 - 4 cups)
(I used patty pan, round courgette, and light green zucchini)
2 Tbsp pine nuts
large bunch of  fresh basil
2 Tbsp of crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Place olive oil and garlic in a medium-large saute pan over low heat.  Allow to cook very gently while  you prepare the vegetables and cook the spaghetti. Prepare the squash and set aside to be cooked at the last minute.   Place 2 TBS of olive oil and 1 Tbsp chopped basil  in a small dish, set a side, it will be tossed with the pasta later. Start heating the water for the pasta.  When the pasta goes into the water, add pine nuts to the olive oil/garlic pan and saute until lightly toasted.  Just before the pasta is done, raise the heat on the oil/garlic/pine nuts to medium-high and toss in the squash.  Stir in 3 TBS of slivered basil.  Cook until the squash is tender, but mostly still firm.  Drain pasta then toss it with the reserved olive oil and basil.  To serve:  Cover each plate with pasta then top with squash mixture, sprinkle with feta, then add salt and pepper to taste.  Alternately, the pasta could be tossed with the squash, however I find that the squash and pine nuts tend to migrate to the bottom of the bowl, making it more difficult to serve.

 Allowing the garlic to slowly flavor the olive oil gives the squash a subtle yet rich taste.  We really enjoyed this dish. In fact, Reyn said that he couldn't remember eating anything this good. . I know that he loves Patty Pan squash, but I think he must have an awfully short memory. I hope you like it.