Butternut squash vegetable gratin

Butternut squash and vegetable gratin topped with roasted walnuts and Gruyere cheese

From “The Cafe Brenda Cookbook” by Brenda Langton and Margaret Stout

Langton/Stout have since published the 25th anniversary edition of this largely vegetarian tome featuring recipes from Langton's restaurants, Cafe Brenda, and now Spoonriver.

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash

2-plus tablespoons olive oil, divided

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups sliced leeks

1 thinly sliced red pepper

3 cups sliced mushrooms

6 to 8 tomatoes, sliced (a mix of colorful heirlooms works nicely)

¼ cup fresh herbs (a mix of any of these works: basil, oregano, marjoram, parsley, thyme, rosemary and sage)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¾ cup toasted walnuts

1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Method

Peel squash, cut in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Slice into ½-inch thick slices. Place in a roasting pan. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Transfer to a baking dish. (The recipe called for the obscure 8 by 11; I used a quiche pan and it seemed to work fine.)

Heat 1½ tablespoons olive oil in a saute pan. Saute mushrooms until soft. Layer on top of squash in pan. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Saute leeks, garlic and red pepper until just tender. Layer on top of mushrooms.  Top with layers of sliced tomatoes, then herbs, salt and pepper, walnuts and cheese.

Bake, covered with tin foil or lid, for 30 minutes at 350. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes until golden.

Rating: This was subtle. It’s not a bad dish as is, but it feels just a few steps removed from superb.  (In fact, this is the first recipe I’ve tried from this book that wasn’t.) I’ll update this post if I try again; I’m thinking perhaps starting by making garlic olive oil to saute things in might do more to bring out the garlic flavor, and maybe I’ll try substituting roasted red peppers for the bell pepper. It’s so close I can almost but not quite taste it.