Simple Squash Sauté

Squash Out Your Hunger With This Easy Dish

Total Time: 20-30 Min Servings: 3-4

Posted by Tent

My Aunt Jenny is some kind of super chef. I'd take her house for dinner over most restaurants in San Francisco. Seriously. The woman has some mad skills, works with a variety of ingredients and styles, and can pretty much perfect a recipe in one try. Oh, also, her kitchen is SPOTLESS, even after cooking a full 5 course meal for our large 15+ person family. Suffice it to say, cooking for her can be a bit…ummm….intimidating. But every once in a while I gather enough gumption and try - one such instance was when I was staying with her at her house in Pajaro Dunes, which just so happens to be a few miles west of the farm.

I had shown up late after market, carrying a bag of market produce. She was looking for a quick veggie to complete dinner and I was just delirious enough to volunteer - half-way through my chopping I began to second guess myself when I saw the intricate spread she had probably spent most of the afternoon on.

Once the onions started to caramelize, however, and the fragrant marjoram hit the pan, I knew it was going to be at least ok. And after all the food - including my simple squash sauté - had been devoured, my aunt gave me the ultimate compliment by asking me for the recipe. The master chef wanted to know my secrets - I quickly gave all the credit to the summer squash. Score one for simple dishes that let the produce shine.

INGREDIENTS
3 or 4 large summer squash {mix and match}
1 yellow onion or cippoline onion
2 tsp fresh marjoram
1-2 TBSP Olive Oil
salt & pepper to taste
chili flakes for some flare

PREPARATION
Place a saute pan large enough to hold all the ingredients over medium heat. Add the oil to the pan to get it nice and lubed up.

Chop up the onion. Before you start crying, throw it into the hot pan / oil, and stir them occasionally. You want them to cook enough to slightly brown {and hopefully caramelize a little} without getting burnt or dried out - if you notice them burning, turn down the heat a bit and add a tad more oil.

While the onions are getting nice and soft, chop up your squash. I like to cut them into half centimeter rounds - anything thinner can start to disintegrate under heat, a lot larger and they take longer to cook through. But experiment. Once all the squash are chopped, the onion should be soft enough in the pan - after about 5 - 7 minutes - to add those squash and stir em all up together. If you want to spice it up a bit with chili flakes, this is also when I throw them in.

As the squash and onion are getting all hot and steamy, chop up a couple of teaspoons worth of fresh marjoram. After the squash has been cooking for about 5 minutes, throw in the marjoram, and cook everything for another 5 minutes or so. The squash are done when they are just firm enough to have a little crunch left in them but cooked enough to have released all of their flavors. Its a bit of a balancing act but make this recipe a few times and you'll quickly get a sixth-squash-sense.

Pull them off the heat, salt to taste and enjoy as a versatile veggie side dish. This also goes great with eggs or as a pasta topping {especially with red sauce}. You can even use it as a filling for steak fajitas or veggie enchiladas.