Quick summer squash (zucchini) pasta

Simple summer pasta for when there's an abundance of basil and squash. Not a bad problem to have (at least as far as the basil goes). This squash was from a start I picked up at the the Crown Point Ecology Center's plant sale. It's a Costata Romanesca Summer Squash, an Italian heirloom. The plants are big, the yield average, and the taste great. It also holds up well in cooking (I might try a curry with the next one). If you like summer squash, and don't want to be buried in them to the point where the neighbors run into the house when they see you headed their way with your bounty, this variety might be a good choice. Just get some seeds before the breeders ruin it.

Ingredients:
- Squash, cut into half moons
- Pasta (here from Ohio City Pasta)
- Bacon (I used some from a vendor at the Market who seems to specialize in lamb--very good lamb. It shocks me how different everyone's bacon is, even if most of them are using happy heritage pigs.)
- Basil, sliced up
- Thyme, taken off the branch
- Salt and Pepper
- Parmesan (optional, like everything else)

Method:
- Cook pasta like normal (in heavily salted water)
- While the water is getting ready for the pasta cook bacon until crispy
- Once bacon is crispy remove and cook the squash in the bacon grease with salt, pepper, and thyme (the squash is more caramelized than it looks)
- When pasta is ready add it along with the (crumbled) bacon to the now cooked squash in the thyme/bacon grease mixture
- Give everything a quick toss and top with lots of basil
- Add some cheese if you'd like and enjoy

Couldn't come together much quicker, especially with fresh pasta. As long as the pasta is damp when added to the squash there's no need for additional liquid. But I saved some pasta water just in case.

Fall weather fare

I'm on the grass-fed bandwagon. While the butcher could likely have done a better job preparing this cut (Not that I'd pay a price like this for a better trim job--the linked place's recommended recipe is nearly identical to the one I used. Good to see they would have approved.), the taste was great. I made sure to try some of the meat before the herby butter started commingling with the juices--it was some of the best flavored beef I've had. The flavor was clean and somewhat subtle, and the texture, aside from a thin line of gristle running through the steak, was chewy but in no way tough. This grass-fed beef doesn't require an acquired taste, it was just a great steak.

The compound butter was made with help from Google and James Peterson's Sauces. Because I grilled the steak a pan sauce wasn't really an option. After making this, I think I'll be using a lot more of these butters.

Also on the plate was most of a small, roasted butternut squash. It doesn't get much more fall than a grilled steak and winter squash.

Steak
Ingredients:
- Steak for grilling (A strip steak would have worked, same with a rib eye. Even though the flat iron is often compared to skirt and flank steaks, I don't think they are as good to serve/eat as a whole steak. If I were making tacos or a steak salad, I'd reach for the skirt or flank.)
- Olive oil, extra virgin
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Get grill going
- Have steak dry and at room temperature
- Lightly coat steak with olive oil, and apply some salt and pepper
- Grill to taste and let rest

Squash
Ingredients:
- Butternut squash, halved, with some light slashes on skin side (seeds scooped out with a spoon*)
- Olive oil, extra virgin
- Salt and pepper (Is there a pattern here?)
- Butter
Method:
- Preheat oven between 425 and 450
- Rub squash halves with olive oil, and apply salt and pepper
- Place squash flat side up on a sheet of aluminum foil in the oven
- Cook until squash is soft when pierced with a fork or knife
- Remove from oven and scoop squash innards into a bowl
- Mash squash with a fork, and add salt and pepper and a small piece of butter
- Cover bowl to keep warm

Butter
Ingredients:
- Butter, unsalted and at room temperature
- Herbs, fresh (I used tarragon, chives, and parsley)
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Blanch herbs in boiling salted water for about a minute
- Drain water and cool the herbs down with cold water
- Dry herbs as best you can and mince (if using the same herbs, omit the tarragon and parsley stems)
- Lay minced herbs out on a paper towel to dry further
- Mash butter in bowl (two forks work well)
- Add herbs, salt, and pepper, all to taste, to mashed butter
- When butter mixture is mixed will, place the blob on a piece of plastic wrap
- Use wrap to form a log of the butter--like a sausage
- Place log in fridge to reharden (the freezer works if you're in a rush)
- Slice as necessary

That's all there is to it. It's all pretty simple and the compound butter is great. There's another piece of the flat iron waiting, and some left over butter. All that's needed is a nice baguette and it should be one of the best steak sandwiches ever.

*Save the seeds for roasting.

And yes, that is a big pat of butter. I ate it all too, and it was good.