Winter Squash Gratin
I made this tonight for the first time. Looking for something different and healthy to do with squash. It was a perfect savory dish on a cold rainy winter's night. A great accompaniment for a roast pork loin. But, you have my apologies for the picture because it is not a good one. When the casserole came out of the oven, it was beautiful! A sight to behold. Warm and golden. But, I forgot to take a picture...and we started to eat dinner. When I realized I forgot to take a picture, it was already half way gone. So, this is just a little corner of what was left.
Winter Squash Gratin
Nonstick cooking spray
2 Tbls olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbls minced)
1 Tbls chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried sage
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs butternut squash-peeled, halved, seeded and sliced 1/4" thick
1 1/2 cups soft whole wheat bread crumbs (2 slices)
1 Tbls parsley
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, part-skim, shredded
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9x13 casserole with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook about 6 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally Remove from heat. Stir in sage, thyme, salt and pepper.
3. Place half of the squash slices in the baking dish. Sprinkle with the onion mixture and half of the bread crumbs. Top with remaining squash slices. Cover with foil, bake 45 minutes or until squash is nearly tender.
4. Meanwhile, combine the remaining bread crumbs, the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and the parsley. Mix well.
5. Remove foil from baking dish; sprinkle squash with mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes more or until crumbs are golden brown and squash is tender. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
From The Sonoma Diet Recipes
Tomorrow I'm looking forward to a tasty lunch of a pork loin sandwich on whole wheat bread with horseradish sauce and a helping of left-over Winter Squash Gratin!
By: Sharon Pickering | 1/15/2007 at 5:16 PM | If you want, you can leave a comment by clicking here.
There
You have put so many herbs.Thanks for letting us to know the method.It 's really worth trying for rainy cold winter day.Can't wait myself to do this.
@ramya, The combination of sage and thyme is delightful. Hope you like it!
hey annie! i have never been able to get into eating squash save for, say, the crunchy spaghetti type one. something about it makes me recoil. i think it's a texture thing.
picture of your dish looks wonderful and it must have been amazing considering what went into it! mozzarella, breadcrumbs and herbs :))
@burekaboy, I have always loved squash. But, usually make it on the sweeter side...butter and brown sugar in the oven.
Do you like sweet potatoes? This dish had a sweet potato flair. It is hard to describe. But, even without added sugar and butter, it still had a soft sweetness to it under the herb and breadcrumb layer. I really enjoyed it.
lol, knew you were gonna ask me that question! :))
i really don't like sweet potatoes, at all. i have only recently come to be able to eat them but they are well disguised (going to post the recipe i use it for soon). again, i'm sure it's the texture of it that bothers me.
oh well, more for you!
@burekaboy, more for me is always the perferred option!
It looks delicious. Recently I've put sqush in some salty scones.
@kja, that sounds interesting. I would like to see a recipe!
annie that looks delicious. Can we also try without cheese??
@priya, I would say yes you could. I would just add more of the bread crumb topping.
Thank you annie.