Italian Stuffed Patty Pan Squash is like taking a delicious fresh bite of summer with garden fresh vegetables, quinoa and a deliciously easy fresh tomato sauce.
We just love the Farmington Farmers and Artisans Market. Fabulous fresh produce that inspires you to cook healthy for your family and friends. These adorable patty pan squash were just meant to be stuffed.
You could stuff these little guys with whatever your heart desires but delicate multi colored quinoa, spinach, garlic, heirloom tomatoes and parmesan is a perfectly delicious meatless Monday meal or a make ahead side dish.
Heirloom tomatoes need little prep to create a gorgeous simple marinara tomato sauce to nestle in your little Italian Stuffed Patty Pan Squash while they are baking. How adorable are these little patty pan squashes! They even have their own little hats.
We have a very simple hack for removing the skin from a tomato. Instead of going through all of the bother of scoring the bottom of tomatoes, boiling and then plunging them into an ice bath and then peeling them we have a very simple way to peel tomatoes without all of those steps. To simply peel tomatoes, cut your fresh tomatoes in half and use a large grater and just grate the tomato facing the flesh side into the grater directly into a bowl. The skin will separate from the skin. You will have a peeled grated tomato which is perfect for this recipe.
You are going to love the fact that you can do all the prep for these squashes and then just pop into the oven to bake. They reheat fabulously as well too.
You are just going to love our Italian Stuffed Patty Pan Squash because it is light, lovely, vegetarian and gluten-free too. You could make them vegan/dairy-free easily by swapping the parmesan for a vegan parmesan or just hold the cheese.
We are celebrating “Delicious Italy” here on Healthy World Cuisine. If you missed our Baked Ricotta Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms, Homemade Tagliatelle Pasta with Zucchini Blossoms and 3-Minute Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto be sure to check it out while the August harvest is here.
Not only do we love all the Farmers at the Farming Farmers and Artisan Markets, we also love meeting the talented artisans like Jozef John Bouwhuis and his gorgeous hardwood creations. He makes beautiful handcrafted wooden bowls, rolling pins, mortars and pestles and the list goes on.
Jozef’s Bowls and Wooden Crafts are only available at the Farmer’s Markets but you can contact him at [email protected] for any questions you may have. We love this gorgeous bowl holding the perfectly ripe patty pan squash that he handcrafted from cherry wood.
Do you have your own garden? It is a labor of love or is that a love of labor?
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Italian Stuffed Patty Pan Squash
Ingredients
- 6 patty pan squash
(about 3 inches or 7.5 cm in diameter) - 2 tablespoon olive oil (1 tablespoon to fry up the quinoa mixture and 1 tablespoon to drizzle over patty pan squash just before baking)
- 1 onion
chopped - 4 cloves garlic
peeled and minced - 1.5 cups quinoa cooked (we used multi-colored but you could use plain or even rice)
- ½ cup spinach frozen (thawed and all the liquid squeeze out) – you can also use 3 cups fresh garden spinach and stir fry or steam just until wilted and bright green.
- 4-5 Tomatoes large peeled fresh (we simply cut the tomatoes in half. Grate them flesh side to the grater and then all that is left is the skin and you pitch that- much easier than that whole boiling ice water hack for peeling tomatoes) – add 1 tomato into quinoa mixture and 3 for the tomato sauce.
- 1 teaspoon Basil
dried - Salt and pepper
to taste - ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese grated - optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
- Prepare the Quinoa Mixture: In a medium pan add the olive oil, onion, 2 of the 4 garlics and sauté just until translucent. Add the cooked quinoa, spinach, tomato, basil and season with salt and pepper to taste and stir fry until all incorporated – 1-2 minutes. Add parmesan cheese and toss, if desired. Set aside.
- Prepare the Patty Pan Squash: Wash the squash and cut off the top of patty pan squash. With a small spoon, scoop out the seeds carefully. (Try using a little coffee stirring spoon, teaspoon measuring spoon or a scooper for this task)
- Prepare the Fresh Tomato Sauce: Spray the bottom of a medium sized baking pan 9 x 9 with a little oil or rub with a little olive oil. Place the remaining 3-4 chopped tomatoes, 2 garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Mix to incorporate.
- Place the prepped patty pan squash on top of the bed of fresh tomato sauce in the baking dish. Stuff each patty pan squash with the prepared quinoa mixture press and pile high. Place the lids to the patty pan squash in the pan. Drizzle the Italian stuffed Patty Pan squash with olive oil and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the patty pan squash are tender.
- Enjoy Italian Stuffed Patty Pan Squash with fresh tomato sauce!
Joce says
This was a great recipe for my abundance of garden goodies. i substituted chard for the spinach, cherry tomatoes for the large tomatoes and fresh basil. I did not bother to peel the tomatoes but once roasted they created a chunky sweet and savory sauce. I didn't have quinoa but substituted pearl barley making a nice contrast to the creamy texture of the squash with the barley's chewy texture. I did add 3 strips of cooked,chopped thick bacon to the barley mix. my concession to the folks in my house who "need" bacon as if their lives depend on it!!
HWC Magazine says
Love all your delicious substitutions to our Italian stuffed pan pan squash recipe, Joce. It's almost like you created your own unique recipe - bacon according to teenagers, belongs in its own food group. Stay well and take care
Ken says
These are so cute and so perfect for the fall season.
QUESTION: Can I make the filling ahead of time? How long do you think it will keep? I would make it and get it ready and then just before cut and fill all the little gourds. Or maybe make a little party out of it and have everyone pick their own gourd and fill themselves.
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much. You can make the filling in advance up to 3 days in advance and refrigerate. On they day you want to prepare your Italian Stuffed Patty Pan Squash, you can cut and stuff your squash and bake.
If you have not made your filling in advance, you can store your baked stuffed patty pan squash covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and then freeze up to 2 months. If you have made your filling days in advance, then store your leftovers in the freezer. Stay well and take care
Monica M. says
These look delicious and adorable! I'm looking for some tips because I am making stuffed peppers tonight (had an amazing dish of them in Charleston recently so it inspired me). Keep enjoying all the seasonal produce!
Eha says
Am trying to judge the size of your 'patty pan squash' - we do not have that term in Australia, we do have very small golden summer squash which methinks might be hard to stuff? Love the filling and shall definitely try . . . but may resort to zucchini if our round ones too 'fiddly' . . . Yes, love the wooden bowls also . . .
HWC Magazine says
Hello Eha, these particular patty pan squash were about 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter so plenty big enough to stuff. Zucchini is another great alternative if you cannot find patty pan squash. The little "mini patty pan squash" (less than 4 cm) (are way too small to stuff and are just best tossed in a little olive oil and garlic and saute. Wishing you a super day!
Eha says
Bobbi - ours must be 'mini' then *laugh* am standing here with a measuring tape at nearly 10pm !!! Sleep beckons but wish you all the best . . . . .
HWC Magazine says
Thank you dear. Sleep tight and take care
kitchenriffs says
Such vibrant color! And you're right -- SO CUTE! The flavor sounds most excellent, too, which of course is the most important part! 🙂
HWC Magazine says
Thank you John! The fresh tomato sauce on the bottom really pulls this dish together. Take Care
Liz Weber Berg says
The filling sounds divine! Perfect with your pattypan squash!! And those bowls are very cool, too.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Liz! We love Jozef's wooden handicrafts and bowls. They are stunning and make the perfect food photography prop.
Katerina says
Beautiful veggies!
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Katerina! We love eating seasonal and patty pan squashes are in season right now. Take Care