Brown Butter Summer Squash Linguine

Serves 3 to 4

by Susie Middleton
from Fast, Fresh & Green
Last Edit Date: 8/23/2010 2:53:33 PM

Hoorah! There’s finally a great way to cook summer squash, that poor unfortunate victim of too many “vegetable medleys,” in which the overgrown squash is thickly sliced, overcooked, and served in a pool of liquid. Young squash—diced small and cooked fast—are yummy. Even better, if you treat yourself to a really cool hand tool—a julienne peeler, which only costs about seven dollars—you can make the quickest, tastiest squash dish ever.

In this recipe, I quickly sauté the “linguine” in brown butter for a super-fast side dish. You could just wrap it up with salt and a squeeze of lemon, but I’ve added almonds, as nutty flavors pair really well with all squashes. (Hazelnuts are good here, too.) You can substitute zucchini for half of the summer squash, if you like.

Watch the video series Homegrown/Homemade: Squash to see Fine Cooking's Sarah Breckenridge make this recipe.

more about:

1-1/2 lb. young yellow (summer) squash (about 4)
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. finely chopped almonds or hazelnuts
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. chopped fresh tarragon or parsley
1/2 lemon

Wash and dry the squash and trim off the ends. Using a julienne peeler, peel the squash lengthwise all the way around, dropping the strips into a bowl. Continue peeling until you reach the seed core. Discard the core and peel the other squash in the same fashion. Toss the squash strips and separate any that are clumping together.

In a 10-inch straight-sided sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and swirl the butter around in the pan. Cook the butter until it reaches a nutty brown color (the almonds should be light brown by then), about 2 minutes. The color turns quickly so keep an eye on it—it will be more flavorful if you take it beyond a very light brown, but you don’t want it to turn black. Immediately add the squash and salt. Toss the squash gently with tongs until it is well coated with the butter. Continue cooking just until the squash becomes slightly limp, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in half of the chopped herbs, and squeeze a little of the lemon over the squash and toss. Taste and add more lemon, if desired. Transfer the squash to a serving dish or plates and garnish with the remaining herbs.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this side dish with grilled scallops or shrimp.

Photo: Ben Fink

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by AuntJenny, 7/12/2011This is a wonderful technique. I have a bumper crop of basil, so I used that (and added a touch of garlic to give a sort of "pesto-ish" twist). P.S. @twood-- if you salt the zucchini about 1/2 hour before you start the dish, leave in a colander over a bowl, then wrap it in a clean kitchen towel and GENTLY squeeze it (you don't want to break up the strips), you'll extract a lot of excess water from the squash. Just don't salt it again when you're sauteing it in the brown butter.

by Amy, 9/6/2010OMG. I used mexican mint marigold (tarragon doesn't grow in this heat) and this is soooooo good!~

by Mowser, 8/29/2010I did not have the julienne peeler, so I tried to get by using my mandolin (as suggested in the accompanying video). Unfortunately, I did not have much luck with the mandolin. The good news is, I decided to continue even though I basically had two small handfuls of clumpy squash shavings. I did not use nuts because my youngest daughter is not supposed to eat nuts yet. Despite the botched julienning of the veggies and the lack of toasted nuts, this dish was amazingly flavorful (I opted for the fresh tarragon over the parsley). I am now motivated to get a real julienne peeler just so that I can make this recipe again. YUM!

by twood, 7/22/2010I'll definitely try this again. The flavors were nice, the dish was really quick and easy to make, and I'm always looking for a new way to use up the summer squash. However, I had a problem with the squash letting out a lot of water which made the dish soggier than I would have liked. Any recommendations?

by NP2, 4/28/2010I've made this twice now -- it's outstanding, definitely a "keeper." It's worth the effort of using the julienne peeler to get the right size strips of squash. The nuts, brown butter, and tarragon are delicious together. I've tried almonds and pine nuts -- both worked really well. A hit with me and the BF!