Prep Time 15min Cook Time 45min
I can still get excited about a fantastic squash recipe, one that shows off their sweetness and substance. A designation recipe. And this is just that kind of recipe: it's creamy and cheesy, simple and rich, like the mac and cheese of the squash world. While it's baking, your house will fill with the aroma of rosemary and toasting parmesan - a smell that is somehow enticingly green and brown, despite the obvious orangeness of the actual dish - and then the squash will taste exactly the way you thought it was going to, and a chorus of tiny angels will fly in a halo around your head, singing about Vitamin A and what a great cook you are and good for you to use the squash before it rotted.
The dish is, also, ridiculously easy. After you've wrestled the squash into cubes, you spend about one second assembling it, and then it just manages itself in the oven with spectacular results
by Catherine Newman
What you'll need
- 1 butternut squash (2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly chopped rosemary (or dried, if that's what you've got)
- Black pepper
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
Helpful Tip:
If your squash is a little bigger or smaller, don't fret - just adjust the cream and salt accordingly.
How to make it
- Heat the oven to 400 and grease a casserole dish.
- Arrange the squash in the casserole. Combine the cream, salt, rosemary, and black pepper, whisk it with a fork, then pour it over the squash. Toss the squash a bit to coat each piece with the cream mixture (I use my hands for this), then cover tightly with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for half an hour.
- Uncover the squash, gently stir in half the cheese (I use a rubber spatula for this), sprinkle on the remaining cheese, and bake, uncovered, another 15 minutes or so, until the top is browned and the squash is tender when you pierce it with a knife.
- Allow the casserole to stand for 5 minutes before serving so that the cream can thicken up.
