Cooking with Heirlooms: Patty Pan Pizza

I might have the best job in the world. The other day at the end of the workday, my mother comes to me, in her hands this gorgeous green thing – Benning's Green Tint Squash – a perfect patty pan squash. “Would you like to take this home?” she asked. Do I want to take it home? Has she met me? Of course I do!

Side note: When I first started working here, I stood before the wall of 700 varieties of seed, trying to fill an order for Cocozelle Zucchini. Minutes passed and I was frustrated (patience was never one of my virtues), “Where is the zucchini?” I called out. “It's in the summer squash.” my mom called back. Well, that doesn't make any sense, I thought to myself. At least another month would pass before it was explained to me that summer squash and zucchini were the same things. Oh dear.

Back to the patty pan squash. If you've never seen these before, you'll be amazed. They are beautiful, colourful round squashes with scalloped edges. “What do I do with it?” I asked her. “Well, I usually chop it up in a stir-fry. What else do you think we could do with it?”

With our creative thinking caps on, we came up with the Patty Pan Pizza.

Ingredients

1 Patty Pan Squash, sliced into ¼ inch thick pieces.

¼ Teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Small Heirloom Tomatoes (I used Morden Yellow and Pomme D'Amour)

1 Heirloom Sweet Pepper (I used Marconi Red)

¼ Cup Extra Old Cheddar Cheese (Mozzarella could work too – but this cheese is my personal favourite)

2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

1 Teaspoon Summer Thyme

… and any other pizza toppings that suit your fancy! I added Montreal Smoked Meat to mine for a bit of a protein boost.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 c
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil
3. Lay squash slices out on baking sheet
4. Add your toppings
5. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes, or until cheese is slightly browned.
6. Remove from oven – enjoy!