Butternut Squash and Carmelized Onion Galette

Ohhh I love finding new delicious vegetarian recipes. They always seem so creative to me instead of meals that are centered around a certain piece of meat. Not that I don't like meat. I do. Really, give me a cheeseburger and I am one happy lady. But, honestly, I usually find vegetarian recipes a lot more interesting. Unless it's a recipe for a cheeseburger...

 

The picture may look weird (bad lighting in my kitchen at 8pm...) but this was delicious. I mean, how can an open-faced pie type thing with butternut squash and caramelized onions be bad? In my book, it absolutely cannot be anything but awesome, which it was.

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

The ingredients I changed in this recipe were mostly a result of me being unprepared creative or unwilling to buy tons of new ingredients for a recipe thrifty. Oops. For example, I realized I only had 1/8 cup of sour cream when the recipe called for 1/4. Greek yogurt to the rescue! Honestly, you could use either and it would be fine. Also, I had enough leftover Swiss and Parmesan cheese from another recipe and I didn't want to buy a whole new package of Fontina just to make this. And couldn't find a smaller sized squash at the store and I didn't want the rest of the massive one I bought to go to waste. I just threw the whole thing in the galette and it worked out well. If you want to do things the proper way, please see the link above. If you're hungry and impatient like me, please see below.

Filling:
1 medium butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
pinch of sugar
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Crust:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small bits
1/8 cup sour cream
1/8 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup ice water

To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a small bowl. Using a pastery cutter, cut in the butter until it resembles course meal. In another bowl, mix the sour cream, yogurt and water. Add to the flour mixture and combine by rubbing the dough between your fingers. Mix until the dough is combined, but do not overwork. Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate for 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375 and peal and chop the squash into half-inch pieces. Toss the pieces with olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Spread evenly onto a baking dish and bake until tender, about 20-30 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, carmelize the onions. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Turn the heat to low and add the onions. Cook, stirring occaisionally, until onions are lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Once the squash is cooked, turn the oven up to 400. On a lightly floured surface, assemble the galette. Roll the dough into a 12 inch round. Transfer to a baking sheet. In a medium bowl, combine onions, squash, Swiss, and Parmesan. Pour filling into the middle of the dough, leaving 1 inch around the edge. Fold the edge over the filling, pleating as you go. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes.Transfer to a platter and serve in wedges.

Enjoy!

Blizzard Fare

In case you haven't turned on the news in the past 48 hours, you might have missed the fact that there was a gigantic blizzard that covered half of the country. In case you're in the middle of said blizzard and are looking for some yummy food to make while you're snowed in, here a few of my favorite cold weather recipes.

 Fall Lentils - Hearty, simple, healthy.

Potato Leek Soup - Serve with crusty bread. Yummm.

 Vegetarian Chili - Filling and full of delicious veggies.

Butternut Squash Soup - Perfect with a small green salad.

Stay warm out there!

Cheesy Baked Pasta

Ever look in your refrigerator and wonder what you can throw together from the random ingredients that are lurking behind milk that might have expired a few days ago and roasted chicken that you're not too excited about eating anymore? This was one of those meals on one of those nights where I wanted to clean out the fridge, but I was sick of leftovers and wanted something a little different. When I combined my scouring efforts between the pantry and the fridge, I had found a half of a box of pasta, leftover pizza sauce and lots and lots of cheese. First, I thought of just whipping up spaghetti, which sounded too boring for me that night. But cheese sounded good, which isn't exactly a stretch considering no one has ever had to force me to eat mass quantities of cheese. So some sort of cheesy pasta dish was in the works.

And then I remembered that John got me these super cute individual sized baking dishes for Christmas that I've been wanting to try out. Thus, cheesy baked pasta was born. And it was good.

Cheesy Baked Pasta
6 oz bowtie pasta (or any leftover pasta you have lying around)
1 cup pasta sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, heat the sauce in a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the simmering sauce. Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce then pour it evenly into two small oven proof dishes. Top each with half of the shredded mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle with Parmesan. Turn on the broiler and place both dishes on the top rack of the oven, leaving a few inches between the broiler and the top of the pasta. After about 5 minutes, or when the cheese is starting to brown, flip the dishes so that they are both evenly browned on all sides. Broil for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and starting to turn golden brown. Carefully remove the dishes from the oven and serve with crusty bread and salad.

Enjoy!