These Patty Pan Squash Recipes Make the Perfect Fall Side Dish (2024)

FAQs

What is patty pan squash good for? ›

Yes, patty pan squash is a good vegetable to eat if you have diabetes or are trying to lose weight or avoid gaining weight. As a non-starchy vegetable, one cup of sliced patty pan squash before cooking has only 18 calories, 4 g of carbohydrates, and just over 1 gram of protein and fiber.

Sautéed pattypan squash.

Dice them (no need to peel, the skin is edible).

Yes! Unlike butternut squash or spaghetti squash, the skin of a patty pan squash is edible. Like summer squash and zucchini, you do not need to peel patty pan squash, you can leave the skin on.

Patty pan squashes are also known as cymling's, custard marrows or custard squashes. The word cymling comes from old English term for a simnal cake, which is fluted.

You do need to cook them, but once you do, you can eat everything but the stem. But pattypans also lend themselves to beautiful and dramatic stuffed dishes like the following recipe in which you steam them, empty them and then stuff and roast or broil.

Cucurbits contain a group of chemicals called cucubitacins. It is these cucurbitacins that are responsible for squash that is bitter tasting. The higher the levels of cucubitacin, the more bitter the squash will taste.

Pattypan squash will keep for a few days stored in the fridge, unwashed and sealed in plastic. The smaller the squash, the sooner it should be used.

Check the days to maturity for the variety of pattypans you are growing, but most types are ready to harvest in 45 to 70 days. The fruits can start to be picked when they are about 2 inches in diameter and they will remain tender until they reach a 4-inch diameter. Each squash weighs less than 1 pound.

In France, scallop squash are called patisson, which in Provence is a word for a scallop-edged mold used to bake cakes. The rest of the name means “yellow and green plume” for the colorful variegated markings found on the mature rind. This bush-type variety is a prolific producer. The more you pick, the more it grows.

You'll know your Patty Pan squash has gone bad if you see mold on it or if the skin appears wrinkled.

Can you freeze whole patty pan squash? ›

Place in freezer and use within 6 months to 1 year. They make a great pick-me-up side dish come February when you're missing summer!

Patty pan squash are ready to start harvesting 5-7 weeks after planting. These petite squash are best eaten when no larger than the palm of your hand. Harvest patty pan squash using a sharp knife to cut the stalk that attaches them to the plant.

The color of this particular variety, called “Flying Saucer,” is temperature dependent — it will turn green when temps become very hot in the summer. Patty Pans are kin to other varieties of summer squash such as zucchini, yellow crooknecks, and “Cubes of Butter” all of which ripen between June and September.

Today, many US garden seed catalogs call them scallop squash, while in food circles they are often called scallopini or tulip squash. Some people know them as flying saucers.

Y-Star - One of the most fun types of patty pan squash, Y-Star is a bi-color. The top of the fruits are a brilliant yellow and the bottom end is lime green. Total Eclipse - This patty pan produces solid green fruits. With great flavor and high productivity, this is a staple variety on our farm.

Avoid spongy texture. The taste of pattypans is very mild, but flavor affinities include basil, dill, mint, marjoram, and oregano. They pair well with other summer vegetables like eggplant and tomatoes. They do release a lot of liquid in cooking!

Especially considering you can substitute either patty pan or summer squash for zucchini in virtually any dish. Since botanically they are the same species, yellow summer squash and zucchini may seem almost the same, but they're not identical — so what's the real difference between them?

Much like zucchini, patty pan is a type of summer squash that's meant to be enjoyed while the skin is still soft and thin so there's no need to peel it. Its flying saucer-like shape is very distinctive and the scalloped edges of the fruits are the genesis of its other common name - the scallopini squash.