Zucchini Pasta

This zucchini pasta recipe is loosely based on one found in Kathleen Flinn's The Kitchen Counter Cooking School. We got the book as a gift about a decade ago, and reading it back then had a major influence on my cooking. For one thing, it got me to switch to the "pinch" knife grip used by professional chefs. The book details Flinn's experience teaching cooking classes to a group of novice cooks. While I don't agree with everything in it, it's a good read for anyone who wants to get more creative in the kitchen. Rereading the book during the pandemic reminded me of an intriguing pasta dish that Flinn used to teach her students basic knife skills.

The basic concept is simple: cook zucchini for a long time, until it breaks down and becomes part of the sauce for the pasta. In principle, it's not far from my own crab pasta. Flinn's recipe uses a huge amount of zucchini relative to the pasta, which I've rebalanced. I also add some garlic, onions, and sausage to make it a complete, self-contained meal. The sausage I used for this dish are from Costco and are a staple in our house. They are fully cooked and easily frozen and reheated in a convection oven to add some meat to a meal with little effort. You can, of course, use any sausage you like, or none at all. Some fresh basil from the garden completes the dish, but can be left out if unavailable.

Ratatouille

Bonne fête! It's that time of year again, when we celebrate Bastile Day through classic dishes of France. Our Bastile Day feast started with escargot and bread and continued into a pan-seared ribeye and ratatouille. I've enjoyed ratatouille here and there over the years and made it a few times before, but had not yet dug into the sources on it. Julia Child has two versions, both on the fancier side, with thin slices of eggplant and zucchini layered between the peppers and onions. Mark Bittman's recipe does the same. Jacques Pépin goes with a more rustic style with cubed vegetables all mixed together. That is the form of the dish I'm most familiar with, so that's what I did here. The most interesting thing I took from these sources is to keep the cuts of vegetables large, so that each can be enjoyed on its own merits. This recipe makes a lot, but the sources agree that ratatouille is excellent both cold and reheated.

Ratatouille is a classic dish of Provence, the southeastern coastal region generally known for its seafood. As I wrote on 2019's Bastile Day post, olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes are characteristic of Provençal cuisine. These elements are central to ratatouille, as well. The four other vegetables featured here (eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, onion) seem to be the most commonly used, but can certainly be swapped out. It's an excellent way to use up summer vegetables like yellow squash or kohlrabi. Any fresh herbs you have on hand can also boost the dish. I used basil because I tend to have a lot of it on hand this time of year. I will finally note that I increased the recommended baking temperature to 400, up from the 350 I used. A dish composed entirely of vegetables has a lot of liquid, which could have been reduced more. At that higher temperature, it may be necessary to stir more often.

Summer Squash Pancakes

Even as fall sets in, our patty pan squash plant has continued to produce. This will probably my last summer squash recipe of the season. I like winter squash, too, so maybe we'll head there next. These squash pancakes are basically a variant of the potato pancake concept. As summer squash are less sturdy and starchy than potatoes, they are a lot more delicate in texture. They are an easy and tasty side dish and a great way to use up squash in a more interesting way than just roasting them.

Grating the squash opens up new possibilities, like the frittata I made last month. It's important to squeeze the water out, or you won't be able to form cohesive pancakes. I did the same with the onion. The white patty pans we had worked well, but you could definitely use yellow or zucchini squash, as well. Egg and panko bind everything together. This recipe will make about 9 pancakes. Serve with a condiment of your choice. We used sour cream, but you couldn't go wrong with Japanese mayo, either. I rounded out the meal with pan-roasted chicken thighs with a quick pan sauce. 

Summer Squash Frittata

As summer gives way to chillier weather, it's a good time to discuss the results from our garden this year. We planted three types of tomatoes (yellow sunburst, black cherry, and mortgage lifters), which all did well. All four herbs (basil, parsley, rosemary, and mint) were dependable producers, with lots of mint fueling my cocktail experiments. The only real failure this year were the cucumbers, which I suspect a rabbit destroyed early in the season. The previous two summers, I was making pickles left and right, so this was a surprise. We had previously never had much success with squash, but we planted two anyway, a yellow crookneck and a white pattypan. The crookneck has done decently, producing several fruit for us, but the for the last month or so, the pattypan plant has been incredibly prolific. I've been trying all kinds of different ways to cook it, but this frittata was one of my favorites.

When I was first learning to cook, I made frittata quite often, because you can put basically anything in it and it turns out fine. The recipe I posted back in 2012 was definitely a "kitchen sink" sort of frittata, while this one is simpler and more refined, allowing each ingredient to be heard. The bacon-onion combination calls to mind the flavors of the classic flammekueche. The pattypan squash I used here has a very mild flavor, but adds texture to the frittata. I usually let them grow to about a 4-inch diameter. Much bigger, and you'll have to dig the seeds out first. To get a little over a pound of grated squash, I used about two pattypans. You could also easily use crookneck or zucchini squash here. 

I'm not typically prescriptive about what kind of pan to use, but a 10-inch cast iron is ideal for this dish. You want something that's both broiler safe but also nonstick enough to allow the frittata to release. This makes cast iron or carbon steel ideal. If you have a different sized pan, adjust the amounts accordingly. For a 12-inch pan, you would probably need another squash and a few more eggs. This particular pan is a Tramontina from Costco. It's a very versatile pan, and is one of the most frequently used in my kitchen. It's great for shallow frying a schnitzel, searing a steak or a hamburger, or just sautéing vegetables. We can definitely add frittata to that list.