Butternut Squash Gratin Recipe

Butternut Squash Gratin Recipe You don’t normally think of squash as being decadent, but just wait until you see my baked squash gratin. I blend the cooked squash in a food process until it’s creamy. Then I layered in a baking sheet with nutty basil pesto and parmesan cheese. Baked squash gratin is divine and perfect anytime. I'm starting by cutting off the ends of the butternut squash and then we’re going to cut it in half. Make it easier to cut. And then with the knife, just cut down the sides. It's easier to do with a knife than it is with the peeler. Now, the other one same thing. Just go right down and peel the sides. Now, we’re going to take the first one we cut. We’re going to cut that in half and then cut the slices off of it. Turn it around and we’re cutting it into cubes. Now, with the other half, you’ve got to take all those seeds out of it. I’ve got all of it out. And again, cut it in strips. I’ve cubed up all the butternut squash now, I'm ready to get it in the steamer. And that water is nice and hot. It's going to cook for about 20 minutes and it's going to be tender and perfect to puree. I think the butternut squash is ready. Very tender, perfect. Now, I’ve just going to get it into the food processor. Be careful because it's a hot pan. You see it's starting to fall apart so you know it's done. Now, you just need to puree it. Okay, we’re going to add a little salt and some freshly ground black pepper right over the top. Great. Now, this is so easy. When I put it in my baking dish, I’ve already buttered it so nothing will stick to it. And we’re just going to do a layer of the squash. This is a great side dish, really yummy. You could do it for the holidays. You could do it anytime of the year, so layer of squash and a layer of basil pesto. Now, I know basil pesto is super easy to make. But to make this go even faster, I’ve just bought my favorite brand of pesto. Simple and clean and it's a great color. And we do a layer of pesto right on top. It's kind of fun, you're just layering lots of colors one on top of the next. Of course I need a little cheese, parmesan cheese. We’re going to grate it right on top, cheese on top of that. Now, to finish up and add the rest of the squash right on top there. So we’re going to use the rest of that basil pesto and some more cheese. Use about a half of cup of parmesan cheese and you split it between the two layers. Just make sure I get everything on top here because we’re going to bake it off and I want a nice crispy brown topping. Okay, now, watch. To make this a little bit more decorative. I’m going to take a toothpick and I’m just going to swirl the squash and the pesto and the cheese. So everything just gets mixed in together. I'm just going to even it all out with my spatula, trying to make a big all mess and just going to add a little more cheese, just a little right on the top of it. So it gets a nice crust. And of course, I’d love to add butter. This is just a little piece of butter that I’ve cut into little cubes and just dot it right over the top. That’s it. Now, I’d get it in the oven, 350° for about 40 minutes until its moist and brown on top and crispy. These are great ways to get you vegetables anytime.