Saturday, June 25, 2011

Pattypan And Yellow Squash Casserole.

Every summer, I anticipate the first squash from my garden.
And here it is. Yellow squash and basil from the garden.
Roma tomato and onion from the Teeter.
Pattypan squash from a friend.
I liked this picture of the pattypan
and my gardenias which smell glorious.

Thinly slice your squash.
You can, of course, substitute zucchini if you like.
Sliced pattypan squash.
Sliced yellow squash.
Peeled, juiced, and seeded tomato.
Sliced onion.
Chopped basil.
3 TB melted butter.
Layer of pattypan and yellow squash slices,
freshly ground salt and pepper, and a drizzle of butter.
Add a layer of tomatoes, onions, and basil.
Continue layering and drizzling.

Drizzle rest of butter over top.
For the topping, I'm using 6 Ritz crackers,
2 Melba toasts,
a handful of Panko breadcrumbs,
sliced Mozzarella cheese, and butter.
Crumble Ritz and Melba over top.
Add sliced Mozzarella and sprinkle panko over top.
Top with butter.
And some more panko.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
You want the top nicely browned.

Here's Rosie's exciting, avant-garde casserole video,
starring Junior.
More of Rosie's innovative videography, starring Junior.
I love colorful, pretty food.
Too bad you can't go to a restaurant
and get something like this.
And I don't understand why so many restaurants
don't take advantage of seasonal ingredients.
I know they say they do,
but do you ever see side dishes
 in the summertime offering summer's bounty?
Fresh squash or zucchini, anyone?
I don't know of any restaurant
that serves anything like this
 and I don't really understand why.
It's simple.
It's easy.
It uses seasonally available vegetables.
Why can't I get a side of squash casserole
 at a restaurant instead of the ubiquitous bun served with everything?

This tastes like summer.

5 comments:

Marilyn said...

We have a few small restaurants that specialize in serving local, seasonal foods here in B-town. One such restaurant is Farm Bloomington with Chef Daniel Orr. That is on my list of restaurants to go to.

Rita said...

This IS beautiful.

I am going to try it but will probably add minced garlice to the butter when I melt it and use a different cheese...not sure which either a Dubliner cheese (which will be a little sharp or a sheeps milk cheese I have and wanted to test.)...I debated a cottage cheese too, where I'd mix the squash with the cottage cheese then layer the tomato, basil, and onion between.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Thank you, Rita. Let me know how you like it.

Rita said...

It was awesome! I put one big clove of garlic finely minced in the butter and also added 1 tbsp of olive oil (I think I may have used more squash overall). I ran all the squash thru my mandolin, and used an heirloom tomato (forget it's name but it's a deep red with a little green on top) and layered.
The cheese I used is a firm italian cheese that had a buttery nutty taste. It didn't melt into a gooey ooze but It added flavor nonetheless...I think I'll try the cottage cheese style next, but will have to probably saute the squash first to get out the moisture...

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Rita, one cannot go wrong with fresh veggies, eggs, milk, and cheese. Cheese of any kind. Glad you enjoyed it and hope you try some of my other "recipes."