summer squash gratin
Just browsing around and I saw this recipe at the hungry tiger, a very cool-looking recipe site I've never seen before. We're are getting so much freaking squash from the farm share that I have no idea what to do with it -- and we're also getting sage, which smells really good and which I never know what to do with, so bonus for the sage usage in this recipe.
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The best summer squash for a gratin, I think, is a pattypan squash or the variety of zucchini that is only seed-filled down at one end. Try to keep the seeds to an absolute minimum. Trim ruthlessly and feed your compost heap.
INGREDIENTS
Two pounds summer squash, trimmed and sliced thin (about 1/8")
2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for the baking dish
1 small onion diced very fine
several sage leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup milk
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz parmasean cheese, grated
dash nutmeg
freshly ground pepper
TO DO
Toss the squash with the salt and spread on a clean towel for at least half an hour. Rinse well and squeeze dry. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Butter a baking dish. A 10" pie pan works particularly well -- the more exposed surface area, the better.
Heat the rest of the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft and translucent. Add the squash and sage and cook, stirring, 5-10 minutes more, until there is no water at the bottom of the pan (the squash will express some liquid as you cook it) and the squash is soft and beginning to brown in a few places. Sprinkle the flour over the contents of the pan and cook, stirring, for another 1-2 minutes. Add the milk and stir gently, scraping the bottom of the pan. When the milk begins to thicken, in another two minutes or so, add the garlic and cheese and continue to cook a minute more.
Tip the contents of the pan into your waiting, buttered baking dish and smooth the top. Bake for twenty minutes.
--
The best summer squash for a gratin, I think, is a pattypan squash or the variety of zucchini that is only seed-filled down at one end. Try to keep the seeds to an absolute minimum. Trim ruthlessly and feed your compost heap.
INGREDIENTS
Two pounds summer squash, trimmed and sliced thin (about 1/8")
2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for the baking dish
1 small onion diced very fine
several sage leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup milk
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz parmasean cheese, grated
dash nutmeg
freshly ground pepper
TO DO
Toss the squash with the salt and spread on a clean towel for at least half an hour. Rinse well and squeeze dry. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Butter a baking dish. A 10" pie pan works particularly well -- the more exposed surface area, the better.
Heat the rest of the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft and translucent. Add the squash and sage and cook, stirring, 5-10 minutes more, until there is no water at the bottom of the pan (the squash will express some liquid as you cook it) and the squash is soft and beginning to brown in a few places. Sprinkle the flour over the contents of the pan and cook, stirring, for another 1-2 minutes. Add the milk and stir gently, scraping the bottom of the pan. When the milk begins to thicken, in another two minutes or so, add the garlic and cheese and continue to cook a minute more.
Tip the contents of the pan into your waiting, buttered baking dish and smooth the top. Bake for twenty minutes.
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