Patty Pans

By On August 19, 2007 · 6 Comments
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Patty PansYou may have seen these little gems in your grocery store or farm stands. For years I just passed them up not know how to use them or even what they were. Then last year I finally got up enough nerve (why this was hard I’ll never know) to ask the farm stand women what the heck they were. She said, “oh they are Patty Pans! Just a variety of summer squash, you can use them much like zucchini” Hmpf, I thought, that wasn’t so bad. So I came home and made my Roni’s All Purpose Veggie Filling with them and it came out awesome.

Well I saw them again today at the farm stand and this time I confidently said, “May I have a few of those Patty Pans, please” with a big smile on my face. :~D

Moral of the story, just ask! ;~) In all seriousness you can use them much like zucchini but they have a slightly sweeter and even a nutty flavor, which can be good, better even in some recipes that call for zucchini. Today I made Zucchini Pancakes with them. The patty’s didn’t have as much moisture as the zucchini, so I didn’t bother straining them and the cakes were delicious.

If you want a bit more info I found this site and there is a little write up wikipedia. Honestly, I really can’t find that much info about them. Anyone out there big Patty Pan fans? How do you use them?


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  • tallmama

    I saw these (or very similar) while I was in New Zeland. They were green and yellow. I don’t think I ever saw white. I really loved them and thought too they were similar to zuchini (sp?). I didn’t really get in to preparing them as I was backpacking around and staying in hostels…but I have missed them and wondered if they are around this part of the world…

  • nath

    hm… I’m sure i already saw these over here in Europe too, but as tallmama, they were not white but rather yellow!
    I remember my dad cooked a risotto with them and it was really good, slightly sweeter than zuchini but still delicious!
    xxx

  • Anonymous

    My mother-in-law grows these in her garden here in Wisconsin & also sells them at the farmer’s market. Everyone always asks her what they are & how to eat them. I just cook them up with regular zucchini, fresh garlic, fresh mushrooms & red onions in a little olive oil & it’s delish! Sometimes I sprinkle parmesan on top. Ours here are yellow. I just love saying the name!

  • Anonymous

    They’re great cut up and sauteed in a tiny bit of olive oil with garlic and onion and mushrooms and fresh tomatoes. I cook a very small amount of whole wheat angel hair pasta and then mix in the veggies and top with low-fat parmesean and Italian herbs. It keeps me from overindulging on the pasta. Also, to keep from using much olive oil, I add a little water to the pan once everything is in and cooking. I’m really enjoying your blog and hope to get back on WW points and finish what I started.

  • Nancy

    cooks.com has several recipes involving “scalloped squash” another name for patty pan squash =) most of them involve scooping out the inside, mixing it with cheese and stuffing mix, and filling them back up with it. They don’t sound like very good diet recipes to me.

    What I am interested in is Spaghetti Squash I saw it a lot last summer but not at all this year. I was told that you cut it open and cook it and use it instead of spaghetti noodles… have you ever tried this?

  • Roni

    Nancy – I’ll do a post on Spaghetti Squash I promise!!!!! :~)

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