Butternut Squash Au Gratin at Home

I do have this dish that is Thanksgiving-y that I created and photographed LAST YEAR! I’ve been sitting on these photos and this dish for a whole year! I’m honestly not truly sure why but the time never felt right to post it….until now that is. It’s also reliable because I still have about 15-20 butternut squash crowding a table in our house and Stephen asks me every week when I’m going to do something with them.:) Hello, Butternut Squash Au Gratin!

ps- I’m funneling my lack of thanksgiving recipes guilt into LOTS of xmas recipes! So, prepare yourself for that to start uhm, the day after Thanksgiving:)

Lets make this au gratin! I used 2 small-medium butternut squash (I keep wanting to type squashES, but that’s not right). They were peeled, sliced into thin coins, layered in the pan, and topped with onions.

Then more of the squash coins are stacked in and eventually it’s all topped with a simple and good panko/ herb/ parmesan mixture. I used real parmesan in the original recipe and photos but have since made it with THIS vegan parmesanfrom Minimalist Baker and it tastes ONLY as good!

Then it’s baked. But side note: raw butternut squash is completely tasty! Maybe that’s simply me but I kind of love it! It’s like eating a raw carrot but honestly, kind of better! (try it!!) But to clarify: I’m not advocating a raw au gratin. That would be weird….

While this is more traditionally something that you would serve as a side dish, it also makes a deliciously filling main dish (or at least, I do recall eating this right out of the pan when I was too lazy to cook anything else for dinner). Hey, at least I’m eating veggies, right?

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have a marvelous and relaxing autumnal weekend (are you listening to Christmas music yet? I think this weekend is a good time to start;)).