Rachel Ray Pasta with Minted Pattypan Squash

A couple of weeks back, I was fortunate enough to receive a large amount of garden squash from a friend. I came up with a number of recipes to use the zucchini and yellow summer squash, but two of the types of squash proved harder to find recipes. Before receiving the squash, I had never even seen pattypan squash, much less used it in recipes, so I scoured the internet looking for possible dishes. Most of the recipes looked to be unexciting or variations on squash bread recipes, which I had already made with yellow squash. Finally, I was able to find a Rachel Ray recipe for Pasta with Minted Pattypan Squash, which looked like a delicious way to use fresh garden squash.

This recipe has 10 ingredients, including salt and pepper. The total time is 20 minutes, with 15 active. I had to make a number of modifications to this recipe. First off, my squash was much larger than the squash used in her recipe. Rachel Ray quarters her squash, my squash was way to large to use in this manner, so I chopped mine, after peeling. The on-line recipe does not peel or seed the squash, but I think the texture would have been tough if the peel had been left on the larger squash, so I peeled and seeded mine, Additionally, the recipe sautes the onion, but leaves the garlic raw. I prefer sauteed garlic in pasta dishes, so I sauteed the garlic with the onion after the onion was almost browned. Finally, I used slightly less pasta water than the suggested 1/3 cup, probably closer to a 1/4 cup.

The taste of this pasta dish was delicious. The sweetness of the pattypan squash worked perfectly with the cheese and the pasta, creating a great tasting dish. I particularly liked how easy to put together this dish was, and that it used fresh vegetables. This recipe is a great way to use seasonal fresh vegetables and is easy enough for a quick weeknight meal.

For the recipe go to Rachel Ray Pasta with Minted Pattypan Squash .