28
Nov

Harvest Gratin

Sometimes, when you cook all day for an upcoming event, the last thing you want to do is cook dinner for yourself. I have certainly been known to order a pizza on these days! But sometimes, you get to the point where more chopping and peeling just seems trivial. This is how I felt on Sunday. I spent about six hours working on a variety of bite-size party appetizers for an upcoming catering gig, and chose this recipe from Martha Stewart to make for dinner. I had planned to make it as a side dish with some pan-seared balsamic chicken breasts, but it turned out that neither of us were that hungry. So I just made the gratin. The combination of flavors was very appealing, since we love butternut squash and sage. A little sweetness from the apples sounded like a great compliment, and I knew the parmesan cheese would provide a nice contrast. As an added bonus, it’s pretty healthy and quite hearty. I just used olive oil cooking spray, so I’m sure my version turned out with a few less calories than the original. The only thing I added was a sprinkle of nutmeg on top of the cheese – because everyone knows that nutmeg makes everything just a bit better.

The hubby and I really enjoyed this dish, and I had leftovers to bring for lunch, which is always nice. The flavor combination was right on, and Ben really enjoyed the texture and mild, almost sweet flavor of the leeks. The sherry added such a wonderful depth, and honestly I would never have thought to pair sherry with squash and apples, but I am so glad I did. The only problem I had was that my sherry was just not in the mood to reduce to a glaze, so I just went along with it as is. This resulted in quite a bit of liquid on the bottom of the casserole, but as long as you let it cool and set for 10-15 minutes, it’s not a problem to cut into. This was a really tasty and satisfying dish, certainly worth the peeling and cutting. I think we’ll be making this again soon!

Vegetarian
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2 Responses to “Harvest Gratin”

  1. 1

    Katie — November 29, 2007 @ 2:33 pm Reply

    Man do I know those days! Great job getting dinner done too! So many times I was preparing for events I just couldn’t do dinner for myself. 🙂

  2. 2

    Katie — April 5, 2011 @ 1:13 am Reply

    Man do I know those days! Great job getting dinner done too! So many times I was preparing for events I just couldn't do dinner for myself. 🙂

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