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You are here: Home / Recipes / Gluten-free / Baked pattypan squash steaks with cheese and herbs

Baked pattypan squash steaks with cheese and herbs

by Jeanne Horak on November 18, 2014 17 Comments in Gluten-free, Main course - vegetarian, Vegetable side dishes, Vegetarian

PattypanSteaksTitle

On 24 June 1947, American businessman and private pilot Kenneth Arnold took off from Chehalis in Washington state on his way to the city of Yakima.  As he had heard about a $5,000 reward offered for any sightings of a US Marine transport plane that had recently crashed in the area of Mount Rainier, Arnold decided to make a small detour towards the massive snowy peak.  He made a few passes but failed to spot anything, so he set a course for Yakima and decided to enjoy the still air and the crisp, clear day.  Not long after setting his course,  he was startled by a flash of sunlight off metal.  Thinking there might be a plane nearby that he had somehow failed to notice, he scanned the skies but all he found was a DC-9 a few miles behind him.  A few minutes later, he noticed more metallic flashes and realised that they were coming from a series of nine peculiar looking aircraft, travelling at extremely high speed to the north of Mount Rainier.  Try as he might, he could not make out the shape of a tail on any of the craft, so he assumed they were probably some sort of new prototype jets and continued his flight. When he finally landed that night, he reported what he had seen and by morning the world’s press were beating a path to his door to hear the first widely publicised flying saucer story. Although the press made up the exact term “flying saucer”, Arnold was quoted describing the craft as “flat like a pie pan”, “shaped like a pie plate”, or “saucer-like”.  Within days, reports of flying saucers poured in from around the country and the world.  Our obsession with the flying saucer had begun.

The term stayed in use until well into the 1960s, despite the US Government coining the term “unidentified flying object” (UFO) to cover differently shaped objects too, and even today, the flying saucer is shorthand on B-movie posters and in cartoons for alien life arriving. Architects seem to have been particularly inspired by the shape of the flying saucer – how else could you explain the Niteroi Museum of Contemporary Art in Rio; the Futuro prefabricated houses designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in the 1960s as semi-portable ski lodges; the Sanzhi pod houses in Taiwan (these colorful UFO-shaped houses were planned as a seaside destination for vacationing American military staff posted in Asia, but were never finished); the Evoluon conference centre and science museum in Eindhoven; or the spectacular abandoned Buzludzha Monument in Bulgaria. But the flying saucer motif also lives on in designs for lamps, kettles, crockery, hi-fi speakers, sweets… and vegetables.

 

Pattypans

Yes, you read right – vegetables.  Because when you look up pattypan squash on our best friend Google, you will fins it described as having a shape like “a small toy top, or a flying saucer”.  And I guess looking at the image above, I can see where they are coming from! It does kind of look like a flattened sphere with scalloped edges – quite unlike most vegetables, and rather pretty, really.  They actually go by a variety of names, including the scallop squash, sunburst squash, granny squash, custard marrow, custard squash, cibleme (Cajun French), white squash,  or scallopini.  But I grew up calling them pattypans, a word that means “a pan for baking a patty”.  There seems to be no connection until you learn that the French word for a pattypan is a pâtisson, which means a cake baked in a scalloped mould – so it’s all about the scallops!

 

PattypansBaking

 

 These delicious summer squashes come in a variety of colours – yellow, green and white – and are related to courgettes/zucchini, so they are easy to grow and produce prolifically all summer long.  Mostly, they are picked when they are about 8cm in diameter and still tender, so you can just pierce, them, steam them and eat them whole.  Nick grew them on the allotment this year and although the first few batches of our white pattypans were picked at this side, life got in the way and the next time Nick went, there were these giant white flying saucers waiting to greet him, some of them a good 20cm across!  Although they remain just as tasty, allowing them to grow to this size means that the seeds start to harden and need to be scooped out, so you can no longed just steam them whole.  One option is to stuff them (which I did very successfully last year) but this year I wanted to try something different. Although the taste is similar to courgettes, the flesh is less watery, so I decided to slice my giant pattypans like bread and to bake them as steaks.  The end result is now a firm favourite in our house, and a perfect main course for vegetarian friends not to feel left out while the rest of the party eat their beef steak. Feel free to experiment with different spice blends and cheeses – and if you can’t find giant pattypans, you could also use marrow or aubergine slices. 

 

PattypanSteaks

 

If you like cooking with a selection of different squashes, check out these other recipes from food bloggers:

  • My spaghetti squash, feta and chilli risotto
  • Michelle’s kabocha squash with a mushroom leek stuffing
  • Margot’s roasted celebration/carnival squash with lemon and parsley
  • Kalyn’s Mediterranean spaghetti squash with vegetables and feta
  • Sylvie’s roasted delicata squash salad with persimmons and pomegranate
  • And three butternut squash recipes: Camilla’s butternut squash & spelt cake; Kavey’s butternut squash, black garlic & blue cheese bake; and Becca’s paneer-stuffed butternut squash

 

4.8 from 8 reviews
Baked pattypan squash steaks with cheese and herbs
 
Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
40 mins
 
These steaks are a great way to use up larger squashes and make the perfect vegetarian main. Your guests won't even miss the meat!
Author: Jeanne Horak-Druiff
Recipe type: Vegetable side
Serves: Serves 4
Ingredients
  • 1 large pattypan squash (about 20cm in diameter)
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • your favourite seasoning (I used a Greek seasoning from South Africa that includes oregano, thyme, pepper, rosemary, mustard seeds and salt)
  • 80g grated Pecorino (or hard cheese of your choice)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
  2. Slice the pattypan lengthways into uniform slices between 5 and 10mm thick. Scoop out the seeds and discard.
  3. Arrange the slices in a single layer on a baking tray lined with a silicone baking mat or aluminium foil.  Brush each one with olive oil and season.
  4. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then test if they are soft enough to pierce easily with a knife. (if your slices are on the thick side, they may need longer.)  Turn the slices over, brush the other side with olive oil and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Check that they are soft enough to eat.
  5. If the squash slices are soft enough to eat, top each slice with grated cheese and season. Turn on the grill and return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and turning golden.  Serve hot.
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  1. Kavey says

    November 18, 2014 at 5:34 pm

    Absolutely love that I not only learn about food with you, Jeanne, but flying saucer history too! That’s tickled me, that has. Love it!

    Reply
  2. Margot @ Coffee & Vanilla says

    November 18, 2014 at 6:56 pm

    Lovely recipe and gorgeous images Jeanne! In Poland we call them “patisony” and they use to look very mysterious to me, I don’t think I have ever tried one yet… Thank you for mentioning my recipe by the way, much appreciated 🙂

    Reply
  3. Camilla @FabFood4All says

    November 18, 2014 at 8:30 pm

    The pattypan squash may look like an unidentified flying object but I think your steaks look like teddy bear’s faces – delicious ones at that:-) Thank you for linking to my butternut squash cake:-)

    Reply
  4. Meeta says

    November 18, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    Unidentified flying vegetable? I love squash of all kind. I have never seen a white patty pan though mostly we get the yellow ones here. This really looks divine – I can imagine it to be a perfect companion with a raclette evening, wine and so on.

    Reply
  5. Jan @GlugofOil says

    November 19, 2014 at 6:22 am

    Oh wow – I’d love to try these, they look delicious. The cheese and herbs sold it to me along with the mouthwatering pictures!

    Reply
  6. Jonker - Firefly says

    November 19, 2014 at 8:02 am

    Now this is something I haven’t tried before

    Reply
  7. Sylvie | Gourmande in the Kitchen says

    November 19, 2014 at 9:38 am

    I’ve always called them pattypan squash as well. So interesting to hear the origin of the term flying saucer!

    Reply
  8. Katie Bryson says

    November 19, 2014 at 11:06 am

    I totally lost myself in that blog post… I love the way your write Jeanne 🙂 Your squash recipe is so simple and delicious – i’m going to have to try it out on my veggie husband. I reckon it’d make a great weeknight supper for him when he gets in from a long shift at the fire station.

    Reply
  9. Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.) says

    November 19, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    LOVE the history and background in this post. We don’t often get patty pan squash here but I always buy them when we do! Great recipe!

    Reply
  10. Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says

    November 19, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Gorgeous recipe – when you have good produce it’s best to treat them simply, and I can’t resist a bit of cheese!

    Reply
  11. Rosa says

    November 19, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    Scrumptious! This is a wonderful way to prepare pattypan squash.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  12. Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says

    November 20, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    I like this as a nice healthier side to some roast lamb.

    Reply
  13. [email protected] says

    November 21, 2014 at 1:18 pm

    These white patty pan are one of the most lovely looking of the squashes, they make perfect decorative ornaments but aside from that I like the fact they are less watery and take well to being treated like veggie steaks. I just need to find somewhere to buy them, or grow them perhaps!

    Reply
  14. Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says

    November 21, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    I adore patty pan squash, but only see them here in the summer. For the mild flavor and texture, chayote squash might make a good substitute.

    Reply
  15. Julie says

    September 16, 2015 at 12:54 am

    I was looking for a new recipe to try for pan squash. I have tried them deep fried with panko crumbs and was very good, but, I really don’t like frying things. too much oil. I predominately use olive oil for everything, except frying. I have not made these yet but am looking forward to it. will let you know how they are.

    Reply
  16. Agness of Run Agness Run says

    April 17, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    I love introducing herbs into my food. This is my perfect kind of a recipe, Jeanne!

    Reply
  17. Gina says

    December 1, 2020 at 5:47 am

    I made this recipe in my air fryer last night and it worked really well. The combination of the oil, herbs and cheese with the big patty pans was delicious. If I get big patty pans again I will def be doing this again

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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