Parmesan Butternut Squash Gratin

Nanners's Note:

From Betty Crocker's 2007 Thanksgiving publication. Recipe can be made 24 hours ahead of time - stopping after step 4. I made this for Thanksgiving dinner this year and it got rave reviews - even from my carnivorous husband. My squash was big so I made extra topping and used a couple extra Tablespoons butter for drizzling.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 (2 1/2 lb) butternut squash
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup panko
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 and spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Peel, halve lengthwise and seed squash. Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. Arrange with slices overlapping slightly in bottom of baking dish.
2. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes stirring frequently - do not let garlic or butter brown.
3. In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs, cheese and 1 T. of the butter-garlic mixture.
4. Brush squash slices with remaining butter-garlic mixture. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and bread crumb mixture.
5. Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes or until squash is tender when pierced with fork. Increase oven temperature to 425 and bake 5-10 minutes longer until browned.
6. Sprinkle with parsley.

Reviews

[SPrins]

Absolutely delish!! Added a bit more garlic, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Thanks so much for sharing~~will be making again REALLY soon! :O)

[Greeny4444]

This was my first time preparing and cooking butternut squash, and this recipe appealed to me mostly because it was one of the only ones you didn't have to chop it into one-inch cubes! I didn't have fresh parsley, only dried, so I just added about 4 tsp. dried flakes in with the crumb mixture. I baked it on 375, uncovered the whole time for 35 minutes, and it was done (but my oven runs a little hot). Thanks for this tasty side dish idea!

[newspapergal]

Very tasty. I really enjoyed the topping — it balanced the natural sweetness of the squash well. May add more garlic next time. The only time-consuming part is peeling the squash :) I made it through step 4, then refrigerated overnight & baked the next evening. Served with Garlic Chicken Breasts & sauteed vegetables.