Description
This dish is crowd-pleasing, vegetarian friendly, and can be made ahead – a holiday trifecta.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 pounds fresh spinach, stems discarded, or 3 (10-ounce) packages frozen leaf spinach, thawed
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter plus additional for greasing pan
- ¾ cup finely chopped onion (1 small)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- Rounded ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 pounds butternut squash (2 large), peeled, quartered, and seeded (see note)
- ½ ounce finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/4 cup)
Instructions
- If using fresh spinach, bring 1 inch water to a boil in a 6- to 8-quart pot over high heat. Add spinach, a few handfuls at a time, and cook, turning with tongs, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water.
- Thoroughly squeeze cooked fresh or thawed frozen spinach in small handfuls to remove excess moisture, then coarsely chop and transfer to a bowl.
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter in an 8-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, then cook onion and garlic, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion mixture to spinach along with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cream and stir to combine.
- Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 3-quart shallow baking dish (13 by 9 inches; not glass).
- Cut squash to separate bulb section from solid neck section, then cut pieces lengthwise into ?-inch-thick slices with slicer.
- Layer squash and spinach mixture in baking dish, using about one fifth of squash and one fourth of spinach for each layer, beginning and ending with squash.
- Sprinkle top layer of squash evenly with cheese and dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then cover directly with a sheet of parchment or wax paper.
- Bake until squash is tender and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove paper and bake gratin until browned in spots, 10 to 15 minutes, or broil 3 inches from heat, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins