Potato and Winter Squash Gratin

The other day I was in the mood for a new fall recipe, and happened upon a recipe for potato, squash, and goat cheese gratin.  I was intrigued by the goat cheese and the inclusion of squash in what is typically a heavy potato dish.  The recipe called for yellow squash and that was my original plan, but then I saw some small delicata squashes at the grocery store and thought they might be more fitting for fall.  They worked out great!  This dish is super comforting and delicious, but doesn't have loads of cheese or heavy cream.

Essentially you slice squash and potatoes very thinly.  Toss with olive oil and layer into a baking dish with crumbled goat cheese, salt, and pepper.  Top with some parmesan cheese and a little milk and bake for an hour.  If you have a mandoline then you can use that to slice the squash and potatoes and this comes together very quickly.  I don't have a mandoline, so I had to spend a good amount of time slicing everything thinly by hand.  Because my slices weren't quite as thin as a mandoline would have made them, and because delicata squash is denser than yellow squash, I increased the baking time by about 20 minutes.

If you would also like to try this with delicata squash, I recommend cutting it in half lengthwise and scooping out the seeds.  Then, thinly slice so you have semi-circular pieces.  Of course I'm sure the yellow squash would also be good.  You could also mix up the potatoes to include some sweet potatoes as well.

I think this would be a great dish for Thanksgiving or another fall party.  For our dinner, I served it with a piece of salmon for some protein.  I'm already looking forward to the leftovers!

Potato and Winter Squash Gratin

serves: 4

The recipe can be found here.

Kaitlyn's Notes:

• If you want this for a substantial part of your meal, double the recipe to serve 4.  I used 1 1/2 pounds of red potatoes and 1 1/2 pounds sliced delicata squash.
• You can cut back the olive oil to two tablespoons (for the original recipe) and it will still be great.
• Substitute delicata squash for the yellow squash and/or sweet potato for the regular potatoes depending on what you feel like.  If you use denser vegetables, plan to increase the baking time by about 20 minutes.
• Everything should be sliced as THINLY as possible.  You can leave the skins on.