I’m apparently feeling particularly fond of cast iron skillets these days, especially in relation to preparing fresh squash. I was delighted to find some young red potatoes at the farmer’s market, and thought that there must be some way to bring the vegetable this week (summer squash) together with potato. Too often has summer squash been done a disservice as the poorly prepared, obligatory vegetable taking up side dish space next to BBQ chicken. Too often is it just cut into big chunks and thrown in the oven to be served up watery and dissatisfying. Allow the companionship of potato to help heal the wounds of bad cooking for this small, beautiful yellow fruit. The following recipe was inspired by Deb Perelman’s recipe here.
Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Bake
1 medium small summer squash, sliced into 1/8th inch rounds
2 small red potatoes, scrubbed, sliced into 1/8th inch rounds
1/3 cup local feta (left over from last week!) or grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp each fresh chives, cilantro, and oregano, minced
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced chives
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place potatoes and squash slices into separate dishes and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the cheese, minced garlic, herbs, flour, and pepper and toss together. In an 8 inch cast iron skillet or cake dish, spread 1 Tbsp olive oil on the bottom. Begin laying down slices of potato, making sure the layer is as even as possible. Follow this with a layer of squash, laid out much the same way.
Sprinkle half of the cheese mixture over the top of the squash, then begin another layer of potato, followed by squash. Drizzle the remaining Tbsp of olive oil over the squash followed by the remaining cheese mixture. Cover and place in oven, baking for about 40 minutes. ( I just covered the small skillet with another, larger skillet) Test to see if the potato is fully cooked by poking it with a fork to see if it passes through. Mine took exactly 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and top off with minced chives. Serve with a fresh green salad to at a little levity to the meal.
Localism Rating: 95% Local
Definitely pair this dish with some raw, leafy greens. It will round out the nutrients for the meal and, again, add some levity to the situation.
Enjoy!
Molly
Recieving Time 