Need
to get out of the city? On June 20, Chef Tony Chittum of Vermilion
will prepare a summer solstice supper on a farm in Loudon County. As a
bit of a teaser, Chef Chittum was nice enough to share this recipe for
summer squash and cornbread panzanella, a dish that will be prepared
for the dinner. I made it a few nights ago and it was delicious. For
more information on the farm dinner see Vermilion's website.
Recipe after the jump.
I made a few adjustments to this recipe, mostly out of necessity. For example, I couldn't find patty pan squash, so I used some baby squash I picked up at the farmer's market. Heck, I didn't even know what patty pan squash was until I googled it. I don't have a grill so I had to fry the squash and zucchini in a pan (stainless steel helps create flavorful brown bits, but clearly grilling would be better). I included Chef Chittum's original recipe below.
Ingredients
- 4 cups cornbread, large diced cubes
4 tb olive oil - 2 cups patty pan squash-mixed colors
- 2 cups baby zucchini-mixed colors
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes-mixed colors
- 2 tb red wine vinegar
- 3 tb capers-salt cured
- 2 tb basil, cleaned and torn
- 2 tb parsley leaves, cleaned
- Salt and pepper to taste (tt)
Method
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Take the cornbread and toss it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper
- Place the croutons on a rack and bake them in the oven until crispy...about ten minutes
- Place the croutons aside to cool
- Place the squash and zucchini in a large mixed bowl and toss with one tablespoon of olive oil; season with salt and pepper
- Grill the squash and zucchini over high heat until slightly charred and al dente; about one minute per side
- Place squash and zucchini aside to cool
- Once the croutons and squash mixture are cooled, place them in a large mixing bowl with remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper and light toss until fully combined
- Serve immediately at room temperature
Serves four
