Crispy-Baked Squash Gratin with Parmesan and Leeks

[purplecat]

Crossposted to cookbook_challenge.

From The Roasting Tin around the World by Rukmini Iyer

Ingredients

500g butternut squash, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 leek, thinly sliced
8 fresh sage leaves
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
350g creme fraiche
150ml vegetable stock
30g parmesan, grated
15g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
30g flaked almonds, roughly chopped.


Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C fan/200C/gas 6

2. Mix squash, leek, sage, sea salt and paper in a roasting tin.

3. Spread creme fraiche over the top. Pour over the stock and smooth down with a spoon.

4. Bake for 1 hour

5. Mix remaining ingredients. After 45 minutes, remove tin from oven, and scatter over the parmesan mixture.

6. Return to the oven for 15 minutes until the squash is cooked through and the topping is crisp.


Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
Not many for this one. I took a few short-cuts like buying pre-sliced butternut squash and I didn't both chopping the flaked almonds.

Verdict
A definite thumbs up for this. We will make it again.

Comments

[a_cubed]

Sounds interesting. I'm not sure how easy creme fraiche is to get here. Soured Cream might be a suitable substitute, I suppose. When they say "thinly sliced" for the butternut squash, how thinly did you do it? I've found butternut squash here quite cheaply (for fresh veg in Tokyo) recently, but I think it's now out of season. On the other hand the standard squash here (kabocha) is available all year around as it's both grown in greenhouses and imported from Mexico (to where I think it was exported to grow for re-import to Japan) and while it's slightly different in flavour, it's a sweet squash and works similarly in most respects.

[purplecat]

I think soured cream would work fine as a substitute for the creme fraiche (in fact I have a vague idea that creme fraiche's popularity is based on its dubious merits as a low fat alternative to soured cream).

I reckon the butternut squash was about 5mm slices? The pre-sliced ones were quite thick, I thought, around a centimetre so I halved them, but didn't have the confidence in my knife skills to halve again. I'm guessing the key here is you want them to be soft after cooking, given they are topped with cream and so on which will insulate a bit, but not dissolved. Leeks are pretty forgiving mind, and everything else just needs warming so I'd be inclined to guess a thickness and then check every so often with a skewer to see if the squash was soft - when it felt about ready, top with the cheese mixture and give 15 minutes to brown/crisp up.

[a_cubed]

Thanks. Sounds like the pre-sliced kabocha here (which is about 3-5mm, primarily designed for making tempura) would do without any change. When raw, kabocha is harder to cut than butternut and I don't mind making chunks but slicing is awkward.

[purplecat]

TBH, my instinct is that chunks would work just fine for this recipe as well as slices - but maybe make it the approved way once before experimenting too much.

[a_cubed]

So, made this with kabocha. I over-salted it but it was pretty tasty otherwise. I also need to ajust the temperature or time down a little. Our gas oven (with temperature and thermostat control not gas mark setting) seems to be hot even compared to numbers for fan ovens. I think a slightly smaller dish might have been better, too.

[purplecat]

I'm glad it was a success!! Hopefully you'll sort out the final few details next time.