How about a Sunday Supper post instead of my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday? Is that a category? If not, it is now.
I have some squash my lovely friend Kim gave me from her garden. She had also given me some cucumber, but I used that in a salad I’ve been eating for lunch all week. I thought it would be a good idea to use the squash tonight. I consulted Joy of Cooking, an excellent resource. I did not remember what kind of squash she said it was. By the pictures in the book, it looked like a butternut. Only Joy of Cooking said that was a winter squash, and it is clearly NOT winter (although the weather did get nicely cooler today; not really cool, but definitely more comfortable). I was confused but just glanced through a bunch of recipes before deciding to wing it, as I usually do. For one reason, I thought it might make for a good blog post (of course, you, my reader, will be the judge of that).
I know, I just could have called or Facebooked (I just love that word as a verb) Kim and ASKED what kind of squash it was. I preferred to let it remain a mystery. I do love a good mystery.
I began my cooking by peeling and crushing several cloves of garlic then setting the timer for 15 minutes (you know, to let it “breathe” in order to reach its full health benefits; I put that in for new readers as well as previous readers who may have forgotten). I chopped up a small onion and put it in a frying pan with some red wine. You see, sometimes when I cook with wine, I actually use it in the food (full disclosure: I also had a glass while I was chopping etc). Then I pulled out the squash.
First I washed it, then I chopped in in half. What a chore! Some squashes are pretty damn tough, let me tell you. Then I peeled it with a potato peeler. This did not go as swiftly as peeling, say, a potato or a cucumber (further disclosure: I rarely peel potatoes and only peel cucumbers when they have that waxy stuff on the skin). However, I managed to get all the skin off, then chopped it into bite-sized pieces (depending on the size of your bite; I can’t accommodate everyone). I added the squash to the pan and covered it, so the wine wouldn’t all cook out and make the stuff burn.
After letting all this cook for a while (what, you thought I was going to keep track of how long this all took me?), I added a can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. I put water in both cans to get all the tomato stuff out. I sprinkled in dried basil, oregano and hot peppers. After a good stir, I put the cover back on, cracking it to let the steam out.
After this had cooked for a bit, I covered it all the way and turned it off so Steven and I could take Spunky for a walk. One must walk one’s dog, after all. When I returned, I turned the sauce back on and put on water for pasta. While the pasta cooked, I grated up the last of some Parmesan-type cheese I had on hand (can’t remember exactly what; the label is long gone.
Our dinner was quite yummy. I really like that unknown squash. Imagine my delight when I discovered there is another one in my refrigerator. I forgot Kim gave me two. Thanks, Kim!
Mohawk Valley Girl 