Video:Stuffed Summer Squash

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Transcript:Stuffed Summer Squash

Hi, I'm Chef John Mitzewich for About.com Food. Today we're doing stuffed summer squash with goat cheese and herbs. And there they are, so cheap, so plentiful, so bland.

So we're really going to jazz these up with some delicious herbs and goat cheese. I'm going to use some mint, some chives, some thyme, and some oregano.

Make Garlic Oil

Very important here, we're going to make some garlic oil, which is simple a clove of garlic and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Just mash it up and let it sit for 15 minutes. And then we're going to prep our squash.

Cut the Summer Squash

Any squash is going to work. I'm using these round green summer squash. Cut off the ends so they sit nice and flat in the pan.

And take your time with this step. Make sure you get the exact middle of the squash, because we have to have them be the same height so they cook evenly.

Scoop Out the Summer Squash

Now as far as the scooping, I used a melon baller since it's nice and sharp. You can use a spoon. But, you don't want to go all the way to the edge.

See how I'm leaving about 1/4 inch from the edge? You're going to scoop about halfway down. If you do go all the way to the edge, they could collapse.

Heat Olive Oil in a Pan

Put a little olive oil in the pan, and then arrange them evenly. Let me give you one more tight shot here so you can see that's about halfway down, and I left a nice border around the edge. Preheat oven to 450F.

Season the Summer Squash

There's 2 tablespoons of my minced herbs; any herbs you like will work. I'm using between 2-4 ounces of goat cheese, depending on how rich you want these to be. You're going to crumble that up.

Pepper and salt the squash; they are very bland. We're going to add 1/2 teaspoon of our garlic oil and a nice pinch of our minced herbs. Man, that's delicious.

Stuff the Summer Squash

Then we top with the goat cheese. We're going to kind of sandwich the garlic and the herbs under the goat cheese. Now we're ready to build the final stuffed squash.

Add about a tablespoon of plain bread crumb, just sprinkle it on, don't press it down. It's very important not to press.

We need nooks and we need crannies, so that the garlic oil we are going to drizzle here settles down in between. A pinch of Parmesan, and that is going to be just unbelievable.

By the way, I'm going to go Martin Scorsese here with the handheld camera. If it looks that delicious before it goes in the oven, imagine what it's going to look like when it comes out.

Bake the Stuffed Summer Squash

We are going to bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Now, you want these to be tender, but not too soft, so when I squeeze like that they should be springing back a little bit.

Remove these from the pan so they don't continue cooking. These are just so delicious. And I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself, I had to garnish with that beautiful flowing oregano. I hope you give these a try. Enjoy.

Thanks for watching. To learn more, visit us on the Web at food.about.com.