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Patty Pan Squash Recipe #1: Stuffed Squash with Rice

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Patty Pan Squash Recipe - It's its own bowl!

Stuffing a patty pan squash is easy and it's shape would make you think you could use it as a bowl. You could, but once the fork went through it's thin shell, you'd have a mess -so put it in another bowl just in case.

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash Ingredients

Stuff you'll need for your stuffing and squash

Large pot with lid
Skillet
Olive Oil or cooking oil
Cooking Wine (optional)
4 Medium Patty Pan Squash (about 1-1/2 - 2 lbs size stuffs well)
3-1/2 to 4 cups of COOKED brown rice
Medium Onion
Fresh Anise
3 Medium Sausage (about 12 ounces) - the best ones are the Italian sweet or hot
8 oz grated cheddar cheese or cheese mix of choice
1 Tablespoon Oregano
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoons Marjoram

Prepping the Squash,

Prepping the squash for a 10 minute bath - in boiling water!

Cut into the squash at about a 15 degree angle, and cut around the whole top. Be sure the knife doesn't stick through the squash - you want to only push the knife to the middle, below the stem. Once it's cut, you can remove the top, scoop out the seed and pithy portion and discard. Place both the top and the bottom into boiling water (I put them in sideways to fit more in), and place the tops in there too - as long as they're covered in the water you'll be fine. Cook them for ten minutes and then carefully remove using tongs, or lift them out into a bowl with a wooden spoon.
I can only fit two at a time in my pot, so that's the way I do it.

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Cooking the sausage

Skin it, slice it, mash it, brown it, or just cook it and run it through a food processor

You'll want to cook the sausage thoroughly over medium heat, so I usually slice the skin off and fry it in a skillet. Break up the meat so it cooks faster. Once it's done (no pink left), drain it on some paper towel. Once cooled enough that you can handle it, run it through a food processor to grind it into fine chunks.

cooking the onion and Anise

Fennel or anise enhances the sausage taste without adding extra fats

Dice up a medium sized onion and the lower part of some fresh anise either using a small amount of grease from the sausage or using some olive oil, then cook it on medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Pour 1/4 cup of cooking wine or sherry to deglaze the pan, then cook this down so there's little moisture left. Set aside.

Mix and Stuff!

Rice, sausage, spices, onion and anise all into a big bowl

Get a big enough bowl to hold the rice, sausage, onion and anise and mix the ingredients thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste. Add some grated cheddar cheese - enough that it becomes sticky, but not too much! You're going to be topping it with the cheese as well. Add oregano and marjoram, mixing it in well, then fill your patty pan squash. I say fill, since some people will attempt to press too much into the squash and crack it. Just fill in the sides, then fill in the middle so it's slightly heaping.

Add Cheese then Bake or Broil for a Delicious Meal!

You're almost ready! Now sprinkle some cheddar cheese on the top of the filling, a little over the shell is fine. If the filling is cool (if you brought out your rice from the fridge), put the shells in the oven at about 350 degrees for twenty minutes. If the cheese isn't browned on top, broil it for about three to five minutes, or until it is. I'm a little OCD on broiling, checking it every two minutes, because I hate the taste of burnt cheese, but I love it when it's brown.

Carefully remove the squash with oven mitts and put them into bowls. Serve hot, and enjoy!
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2011 - We've gone a little crazy planting these this year, kind of making up for the lack of a garden last year. Expect more recipes and ideas for patty pan squash and what ever else I can grow (trying to keep ahead of the slugs in the brocolli patch - it's not working so far: time for a beer [trap]!).

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