During the COVID-19 shutdowns, I found myself with a little extra time on my hands. So I did what any sane, afraid-there-would-be-no-produce-in-the-stores-due-to-COVID-thinking person would do: I planted a garden. We planted a lot of different things: green beans, sweet peas, zucchini, cucumber, corn, tomatoes, pumpkin, yellow squash, and about 18 different winter squashes. And then we waited.

Fast forward a couple months…

As it turned out, most of the garden was a bust (except for the weeds, they seemed to be doing just fine). But there were three plants that saved us: one zucchini plant and two yellow summer squash plants. Boy did they come through. As a result, we have been drowning in squash for months. My kids are totally sick of it. Every dinner, its either zucchini or squash. We’ve tried every variety available: grilling it, putting it in quesadillas (which is actually incredible), stuffing it and baking it, and making a completely ridiculous amount of zucchini/squash bread. But when we tired of those methods, I tried something new. I pureed it.

A good puree only tastes as good as the un-pureed version of that food. I love the flavor of grilled summer squash with onions, so I started with that. In a pan set to high heat, I cooked sliced summer squash and onions in olive oil. Then I put it in a blender and pureed it. I was surprised how well it worked, there is enough natural moisture in summer squash that I didn’t have to add any liquid to get an smooth, pureed consistency. We even found that if we added a little instant food thickener, we could pipe it into some pretty appetizing shapes. 

It turns out that summer squash was meant to be a puree, it may be the best way to serve it. Summer Squash Puree can be eaten as a side or used to garnish or enhance any number of main dishes. The possibilities are endless, let me know how it goes in the comments section!