Sauteed Squash with Caper-Basil Pangritata

I’m a little late to the party with this recipe. Summer produce is still hanging around the markets, but it seems that everyone is a bit over mother nature’s yield at this point. Regardless, there are still some take-aways to be had from this dish – mainly, what’s sprinkled on top of it, which could, in theory, be sprinkled on top of many other things.

Pangritata is essentially poor man’s Parmesan. Back in the day when money was tight in the old country, Italian peasants would fry up coarsely chopped bread crumbs with other cheap stables – capers, garlic, herbs – and serve it over pasta instead of grated cheese. One man’s food rags is another man’s riches. I’d take this as a topping over Parmesan any day.

I’m officially back on the Meatless Monday bandwagon – not that I really post too many meaty recipes on this site. If I wasn’t, I might suggest you add a little bacon to the pangritata. But I would never say such a thing. I used gluten-free bread, of course, which doesn’t get as crispy and is much more prone to subsequent sogginess. So I can only imagine how good this caper-basil topping would be with stale ciabatta or baguette.

I hope you’ve been enjoying the Chef Race behind-the-scenes rants and updates. If you haven’t, as I figured some of you might just be hungry for food, have no fear: I’ll still be posting new recipes bi-weekly, so stay tuned!

xo

Phoebe

Sauteed Squash with Caper-Basil Pangritata

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Author Phoebe Lapine

Ingredients

• 1 slice sandwich bread I used Udi’s gluten-free
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 small sweet onion halved and thinly sliced
• 2 pounds summer squash quartered and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice from ½ a lemon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup basil leaves chopped

Instructions

• Finely mince the bread or pulse it in a food processor – I prefer a slightly coarser texture with my crumbs so I do it by hand.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium lidded saucepan or pot over a medium-high flame. Add the bread crumbs, garlic, and capers. Saute until the garlic is golden brown and the bread is crispy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the pangritata into a bowl and wipe out any remaining bits from the pan.
• Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and saute the squash until pliable, about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine, lemon juice, and salt and simmer, scraping up any brown bits at the bottom of the pan until the wine has partially cooked off, about 3 minutes. Cover the pan, turn the heat down to medium-low, and simmer until the squash is fully cooked, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, fold in the butter and half the basil. Taste for seasoning.
• To serve, transfer the squash to a serving platter and sprinkle the pangritata over the top. Garnish with the remaining basil.

If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe – I’d love to see it!