if you love garlic

rose garlic from lautrec

then you’ll love this recipe.

last month we had to buy a lot of garlic for our christmas pernil. i love the freshly harvested garlic we buy at the farmers market in the spring. they are so good, sweetly strong, and moist. so at fairway i was excited to see these stemmed garlic, although i should have known these were from someplace other than here (duh, we normally get fresh stemmed garlic only in the spring) but it didn’t cross my mind at the time … until after check-out and as we’re packing the bags in our zipcar. i’m glancing at the receipt (we spent *how* much on food for the party??) when i see that these weren't any ordinary garlics, these were l'ail rose ("rose garlic") and that EACH bunch was $11 … and we bought TWO of them!!

but they are delicious! :)

because it was an indoor sunday afternoon (don’t blame us, blame the football) we had to make dinner with whatever we had already in the pantry … and that wasn’t much. some leftover fennel, carrots, lentils, pasta, boca chick patties, chives, squash, and rose garlic.

okay, so that wasn’t too bad. we made a fennel and carrot side salad. cooked up the chick patties with a mustard sauce. and then made this provençal winter squash gratin, to keep with the french garlic theme. and indeed, it’s heavy on the garlic, so i wouldn’t try this out on date night. but for those who love garlic (like we do) this makes a great side dish. but take note! easy to prep, but it does takes a while in the oven.

provençal winter squash gratin: serves 4-6
from vegetarian cooking for everyone (1997, p. 441)

2 lb butternut squash
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley (we used chives)
salt + pepper
3 tb flour
olive oil

1. preheat oven to 325F and oil shallow earthenware baking dish (we used two small ones.) peel the squash and cut into even-sized cubes, about 1/2 inch. toss it with garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.

2. add the flour and toss again until the pieces are coated lightly. let the excess fall to the bottom and pile the squash into the dish. drizzle the oil over the top.

3. bake, uncovered, until squash is browned and tender when pierced with fork, about 2 hours (ours only took 1 1/2 hours.)

provençal winter squash gratin ready to go in oven

update: my first event post! lovely sunita hosts a monthly "think spice" event and this will be a perfect match for this month's think spice ... think garlic!