Squash Gratin Another Way

Eggy has been working on Year Two of his garden and it's starting to yield some tasty rewards. I had my pick of three enormous squash for my take on 100 Cookbooks' Summer Squash Gratin. Hers looked absolutely superb and I was totally game for it, except I ended up having to work long hours and didn't get a start on it until late in the day so when she wanted me to create an herb sauce and dress the squash with it, that was a little beyond my ability at that moment. My version is probably far cheesier and a little differently spiced than hers. I will go back and try 100 Cookbooks' recipe since at dinner Eggy mused, "I wonder what this would taste like without the cheese." Blasphemous if you ask me, but I have a feeling we're going to have an abundance of veggies around here so whatever I can do - even if it means a gratin without cheese, then so be it!

Actually, for me the breadcrumbs were the hit of this dish. I processed two slices of country white bread and half a sleeve of Ritz crackers. She called for lemon zest mixed in the squash but I only had lemon peel in the spice cabinet. I processed that into the bread crumbs as well. She called for oregano, but it's not my favorite spice (I dunno sometimes I get a sour note from it?) so I used rosemary and parsley. I forgot to add the red pepper flakes which is usually irrelevant in our house since my husband adds them to everything. Also, I this 12 oz. block of Gruyere cheese that was "use by" just a few days later, so I put the whole thing in, you know, instead of the 3/4 cup Gruyere she called for. Salt, pepper. 400 degree oven for 50 minutes. It was the leftover I went back to for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can't wait to make it again.