Baby Pattypan Squash Gratin
on Jul 07, 2019, Updated Mar 06, 2024
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Squash is nestled in a beautiful green sauce made with chard, cream, and gruyere cheese for a flavorful and unusual side dish.
This Baby Pattypan Squash Gratin is one of the most unusual and pretty vegetable sides I’ve made in a while. I truly can’t quite remember what prompted the combo—I do remember that I had some chard that was looking less than pert, and therefor had to be used in a cooked preparation.
And a cooked preparation that it could sort of blend into. And I obviously had some baby pattypan squash lying around, which is not one of the vegetables I normally have lying around…but they are so dang cute that they must have jumped into my shopping basket.
Squash is nestled in a beautiful green sauce made with chard, cream, and gruyere cheese for a flavorful and unusual side dish.
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And I always have some gruyere-like cheese hanging around, like actual Gruyere or Grand Cru. So a gratin began manifesting itself in my kitchen.
The chard is made into a puree of sorts with some garlic and olive oil, then blended with some cream and cheese to make a vividly green gratin sauce (speckled with bits of other color from the chard ribs if they were multicolored). Into a shallow baking pan it goes, a shower of additional cheese is bestowed on the top and the whole thing is baked until the cheese is melted, the whole thing is bubbly and the top has nice toasty brown spots.
You can use green or yellow pattypan squash, it doesn’t matter a bit. Sometimes they are called baby summer squash. In any case they are about 1 inch in diameter, with tiny ruffled edges, and they are adorable. Trim off and tiny stems and root ends, but just barely so you don’t lose much of the already diminutive vegetable.
You could also used sliced regular yellow squash or zucchini in this. Not as cute perhaps, but just as delicious.
I served this up with some sliced Grilled Mexican Rib-Eye Steaks and crusty bread and folks were happy.
Also try this recipe with:
- Garlicky Roast Chicken with Shallots and Potatoes
- Rosemary and Lemon Roasted Chicken Thighs
- Grilled Pork Loin with Brown Rice Salad
- Salmon with Tarragon Vinaigrette
- Filet Mignon with Pistou and Green Salad
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Baby Pattypan Squash Gratin
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 cups sliced Swiss chard leaves cleaned and sliced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup grated Gruyere divided
- 1 ½ pounds baby patty pan squash trimmed and halved
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a shallow a 1 ½ quart baking dish, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a food processor, pulse the garlic and Swiss chard until chopped. Add the olive oil and puree until combined.
- In a large bowl whisk together the cream, minced chard mixture, salt and pepper, and ½ cup of the Gruyere. Add the pattypan squash and use a large spoon or your hands to combine until the squash is all well coated with the cream mixture. Turn the squash into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup grated cheese on top.
- Bake for about 35 minutes until the cheese is nicely browned and the casserole is bubbling around the edges. Let sit for about 5 minutes then serve hot.
Ill just start with I dont ever follow recipes unless its baking. I did substitute the cheese as I did not have gruyere although I think it would have been amazing and the chard for kale as I didnt want little pink bits in the dish from the stems. I have an abundance of all kinds of veggies from my garden to use and this recipe was such a creative way to use up some squash and greens. thanks for the new idea!
This looks so delicious and love that it’s a different, interesting vegetarian side. Will make it this weekend. Thank you for these wonderful green sides!