Some people love summer squash.

I am not one of those people.

Zucchini, pattypan, straight-up yellow, all of these guys bore me a little.  They’re bland.  And for whatever reason, I have a hard time coming up with ways to sex them up like I can, for example,  for summer greens.

But Windfall Farms, our CSA farm, dropped some pattypans on us, and I concocted a sandwich that turned out really, really well.  This made me feel good not just because I made good use of the pattypans, but because pattypans are so cute, odd outliers in a world of goose-shaped and phallic cousins, and I like outliers.

Jay’s Summer Squash Shredder Sandwich (serves two)

Ingredients:

1 large of 2 small summer squash
strong blue cheese
a small handful of walnuts
arugula
basil
thick sourdough bread or equivalent
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
half a lemon
salt & pepper

Step One:  Grate (that’s right, grate) your squash on a cheese grater.  In a pan, fry the crushed garlic in a dab of butter and tablespoon of olive oil on low heat.  After four or five minutes, toss in shredded squash.  After another four or 5 minutes, add the juice of half the lemon, salt, and lots of pepper.  Remove from heat.

Step Two:  Cut your sandwich bread.  It’s important to make the slices thick, because the squash and lemon are wet, and if the bread isn’t thick enough, it will drip through the bread.

Step Three: Top two slices of bread with the shredded squash and lemon.  Spread dabs of the blue cheese across the top.  Chop the walnuts and add them as well.  Smack the remaining bread on top and grill.  (We used a sandwich press that we got as a wedding present.  You could use a conventional grill or a frying pan.  All you really need to worry about is getting the bread a bit toasty and the cheese a bit melty.)

Step Four:  Once the bread is toasted and the cheese melted, remove the top piece of bread on each sandwich and add a small scattering of chopped basil and a healthy layer of arugula.  Return the top piece of bread and grill for another minute.

Step Five: Eat.