Shopping for produce at a farmers’ market is not expensive. Succumbing to the allure of miniature vegetables, when you don’t make a list and fall for anything adorable – that’s expensive. Five bucks for these puppies. Outrageous, but their sweet, concentrated flavor matched their price tag.
Baby Squash with Garlic and Cream (PDF)
Recipe 275 of 365
Baby vegetables are tender and sweet, but too fragile to grow much once the ground begins to freeze overnight, so farmers often have plenty of tiny specimens to sell at the end of the growing season. Look for the littlest summer squash you can find for this recipe, or buy the mini zucchini or squash sold at many high-end grocery stores, and cut them in half.
When squash are tiny like this, don’t bother chopping the tops off – they’ll become as soft as the rest of the vegetable with just a few minutes in the pan.
Add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese to when the squash are done, if you’d like.
TIME: 10 minutes
MAKES: 4 side servings
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pint (about 1 pound) baby summer squash, any variety
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup heavy cream
Preheat a large skillet over high heat. When hot, add the butter, swirling it to encourage it to melt. When just melted, add the garlic and the squash, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring or tossing the vegetables constantly, for 1 minute, or until the vegetables begin to brown on the outsides. Add the cream, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring, or until the cream has browned and thickened enough to coat the squash with a thin veneer of shiny sauce. Serve immediately.
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