Overabundance of Squashes

They make a nice vegetable added late in the cooking of the soup so they don't break down too much. I have some in some minestrone in the fridge right now.

The italians do great things with the flowers. Fantastic fried. That cuts down on the fruit produced as well so it's a good way to enjoy the plant but produce a more manageable harvest.

Stir fries, curry, roasted, stuffed, breads, pickles, relishes...

Funny you mention that because in the current issue of La Cucina Italiana, they have a whole section of recipes with zucchini flowers. My favorite is stuffed with ricotta and baked.. they are on the cover.. I've had them in Italy and they are the absolute BEST!!

A Utah joke related to the thread:

Why do Mormons lock their cars at church?

So they don't come out and find the car filled with free zucchini.

We love this bread all year long. I give it a different name according to the time of year I make, I know, kinda silly. Anyway, check these out.
If I were you, to ensure you keep some of your yards givings from this time of year for later in the year, can or bottle or freeze. If my tomatoes were abundant I'd Ball jar them up for later. There are recipes. Also, you can use the basil or the parsley or chives and green onions later in the year too if you mix them with a little water in a blender, individually I mean, and then freeze in ice cube trays, then use them in sauces or dressings.

out of those tomatoes make some tomato sandwiches, they are mhy favorite on good bread, a little mayo salt and pepper, voi la.

Here's a very different approach:

Split a big squash or two, and use a spoon to scoop out most of the flesh, leaving the shell intact. Chop the flesh coarsely. Cook some onion or green onion in a little oil, add fresh corn kernels and toss well, then add the squash flesh, oregano, raw tomato, salt, pepper, and a little diced hot pepper if you like. It should be very juicy because of the squash and corn, but if not add a dab of water. Cover tightly and let cook about 5-10 minutes until quite soft. Now take about 1/3 of this mixture, put it in a blender, and add some cream or milk just to keep the blades free. Puree very smooth, adding more cream if necessary to make it go around. Mix this back into the cooked vegetables, and add some fresh cilantro and a bunch of grated Cheddar, Gruyere, or other mild cheese. Stuff the shells with this mixture -- it'll overflow a bit, so do it on crumpled foil on a baking sheet. Bake in a medium-fast oven, maybe 375, until golden on top.

Here in the sunny southwest, a dish called "calabacitas" is very popular. Typically, it is corn [fresh, frozen or canned], zuccini, yellow squash and green chile [fresh, frozen or canned], s&p, and cilantro [if you like it]. Calabacitas is spanish for squash, however the times I have had this dish, corn has been the predominant ingredient. Even so, it was still called calabacitas. Go figure.

gazpacho....tomatoes/juice, red or sweet onion, squash, cucumber, red wine vinaiger, garlic, salt/pepper, herbs.

caponata....long fridge life.....eggplant, onion, tomato, squash, celery, tomato, raisins or currants, viniager, brown sugar, garlic, basil, I add hot pepper flakes sometimes.

pickled squash

stuffed squash....ground meat (lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, pork etc), herbs, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, parmesan or other hard cheese.... this is good for the larger squash.

Or vegetarian version of stuffed squash....peppers, onions, squash guts, garlic, bread crumbs (optional), hard cheese (optional), tomatoes....

Pizza or calazone, load that puppy up with sauteed squash.

I love squash casserole.....shredded squash (any summer varieties) squeeze out liquid , fresh chevre or cream cheese, sauted onion/garlic, dillweed, eggs, pop of chipotle or crystal sauce if you like heat......crumb/hard cheese/butter topping.....

Soup. Just thin out casserole components, leave out egg, add water/stock/milk.

Veg sandwiches, yesterdays' had whole grain bread, basil mayo, tomato, grilled zephyr squash, red torpedo onion, beets.....never really considered using beets in sandwiches until this year.....love um......just gotta watch that they don't drop out on my clothes. The innerds change with availability.


Used to make a veg saute that was super on sandwiches. Coarse chop....blanch/saute....cauliflower, broccoli....add saute onions, squash.....
Sandwich was on toasted bread with cheese, usually swiss like or havarti, spike (which is a spice/herb blend, usually available at health food stores), mayo.

squash blossoms stuffed with fresh garlic/herb chevre/whipped egg white folded in.....egg wash with yolk, flour (rice flour or AP) saute or deep fry. Even cooler is having a baby squash attached and tempura the whole thing, serve with aioli.

Try making a zucchini relish or perhaps a zucchini marmalade. I made that one year due to a huge crop and everyone loved it. I didn't mention what was in it till the kids had said how good it was . I found both recipes online. I think it was cooks.com. Alot of everyday people post their recipes on that site and sometimes it can be a good resource for this type of thing.