We are coming up on the summer season of squash—the warm time of the year where everyone you know is growing squash and trying just as hard to get rid of it. Grocery stores are practically giving it away and farmer’s markets are full. I have been known to put squash in people’s cars when they are not around and have also been on the receiving end.
It’s a crazy time of the year. My grandparents in Patagonia grew a beautiful garden every year (squash included and we ate the freshest produce you could get. Yellow crooknecks and patty pan squash were my grandpa’s specialty and my grandma would make us a dish called Mashed Squash or what I liked to call Squished Squash. It’s a dish we eat every summer whether we grow it or not and it always reminds me of home and family.
4 to 6 small to medium sized yellow crookneck OR
patty pan squash cut into medium sized cubes
Salt and pepper
Butter, 2 Tablespoons
Milk (optional)
Cheese
Put squash in a medium sized pot and add just enough water to cover. Add salt. Bring to a boil over low heat and simmer until squash is tender. Drain and add butter and milk. Using a potato masher (or bean masher in these parts) gently mash squash until there are no longer any large chunks. Add grated cheddar, Longhorn or Jack cheese (enough to coat the spoon, making it hard to clean.) Add more salt if needed and fresh ground pepper. Serve on a hot summer night along side a mesquite grilled steak and a cold beer.
Stop hiding squash in other people’s cars and instead make this for your friends; it could be your new summer tradition.
Enjoy and Happy Summer!