I think we can all agree, there’s just nothing like Mom’s home cookin’. It just tastes better, doesn’t it? For that reason I’ve asked my Mom to submit some of her favorite recipes for me to share with y’all each Monday. Let’s get cooking in the kitchen with Mom!
With her container garden in full bloom, Mom has been a busy bee experimenting with new ways to use her herbs and veggies. She took some inspiration from a Barefoot Contessa recipe we love and tweaked it to use up her abundance of basil. And oh my! – it is simply delicious. In fact we liked this one so much we’ve already decided it needed to be featured at Thanksgiving – in our house that’s quite a statement!
Ingredients:
- 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus extra for topping
- 1 yellow onion, chopped roughly
- 2 large shallots, sliced into rings
- 2 pounds summer squashes and zucchini, sliced 1/3” inch thick
- 1 tsp. finely ground sea salt
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
- 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
- 1 cup half & half (I used fat free; you can use full fat or whole milk)
- ¾ cup Panko bread crumbs
- ¾ cup freshly grated Asiago cheese (you can also use a good Parmesan)
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Melt butter in very large (12 inch) sauté pan and cook the onion and shallots over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned. (This step is important – you want to cook the onions and shallots over very low heat so as not to brown or burn them; I cook them for the full 20 minutes.) Add the sliced squash and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Do not cook longer than this or the squash will get mushy. Add the salt and pepper and stir. Stir in the flour until distributed throughout. Pour in the half & half and cook over low heat until it thickens. Pour the mixture into an 8 X 10 baking dish.
Combine the Panko crumbs and asiago cheese and sprinkle over the squash mixture. Dot with 1 tbsp. butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Let sit for a few minutes after removing from the oven to let the sauce thicken.
This is a great side dish or can be enjoyed as a vegetarian entrée.
Enjoy!