Fresh twists for that zucchini windfall
Appetizer makes the most of peak summer squash
In high season, if you turn your back on a squash plant for a minute, you’re rewarded with a zucchini as big as your forearm. You might try to give it away, with little luck; this time of year, every gardener has too much squash. (In high season in the Vermont town where I grew up, it was not uncommon to find bags of unsolicited squash on your porch or the front seat of your unlocked car.)
In the case of summer squash, bigger is not better. The larger ones tend to be cottony, seedy and waterlogged, not to mention flavorless. But if you get summer squash when it’s small and still so fresh that the stem has small prickly hairs (called trichomes), it’s a treat. This is especially true when it’s cubed, sautéed and combined with onions and garlic, toasted almonds, feta and dill, then rolled in layers of buttery phyllo. It’s a star turn for a vegetable accustomed to bit parts.
Rolling the filled sheets of phyllo into snails is not the easiest task. Be mindful of the size of your cubed squash (if the filling is too chunky, rolling becomes difficult), apply butter generously (so the pastry bends without breaking) and carefully curve the lengths of filled dough into spirals. If minor breaks occur, don’t despair; the pastries will still taste great.
Bake the snails until they are a deep golden brown, which ensures shatteringly crisp phyllo, and eat them warm from the oven. Rich with butter, cheese and nuts, they’re a satisfying summer supper with only a salad needed for accompaniment.