Florida Pattypan Squash Soup
Pattypan squash is a summer squash native to North America and dating back 8,000-10,000 years. If you've ever read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer you may be familiar with Three Sisters, the native American grouping of squash, maize/corn, and beans. Often it was traditionally done with Pattypan Squash. The easy to grow summer crop is considered comparable to other squash and zucchini in Vitamin C but Pattypan Squash out performs other cultivars in Vitamin A, Magnesium, and Antioxidants. Its a great summer vegetable to grow throughout Florida. The leaves, flowers, stems, seeds, and fruit are all edible!
We shared some of our pattypan harvest, along with some other Florida friendly plants from around our urban food forest, with our friends at Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund. Chef Paul Joachim, The Chocolate Genius, made this wonderful soup from it.
Florida white squash soup with cranberry hibiscus, thyme, roasted Jamaican cherries and cajun bell pepper. Topped with sautéed (invasive) sword fern tubers, cowpeas, lima bean, katuk leaves, sea salt, and fresh cracked pepper.
The primary ingredients were roasted and then pulsed together with non-dairy oat drink. The rest were very quickly sauteed to bring out the flavors.
Patty Pan Squash Seeds
After utilizing your Pattypan Squash you'll also get a good amount of high quality seeds. While roasting them with a little salt is a delicious option, be sure to also save some.
- First rinse off the seeds to get as much of the fleshy material as you can off of it.
- Set them to dry on a countertop on a tea towel or paper towel. We recommend tea towel since its reusable.
- After drying you can generally get even more of the flesh off of it.
- Then you can store the seeds, share the seeds, and next season – plant the seeds.
We have Pattypan Squash seeds available, contact us to arrange pickup. There's no cost though donations are always appreciated.
