Momfessionals Recipe Club {Squash Casserole}

With Thanksgiving coming tomorrow, I decided to share my favorite holiday dish with you.  Paula Deen's Squash Casserole is a staple side dish with my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It is easy, delicious, and a must have for any holiday meal or church pot luck as far as I am concerned.  I will start by giving you Paula's official recipe from her original The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook.  Then I will share the pictures and my personal input since I very rarely make a recipe exactly as it says to!

Squash Casserole

1 large onion, chopped
4 Tbsp butter
3 cups cooked squash, drained with all water squeezed out
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers, plus additional for topping
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp House Seasoning (see below)
 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Saute onion in butter for 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and mix all ingredients together.  Pout into buttered casserole dish and top with cracker crumbs.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

House Seasoning

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix well and store in an air tight container.

So here is my take on Paula's Casserole.  I really don't measure anything any more since I have made this so many times.  The main difference in my way and her way is that I leave out the onion.  I like onion just fine, but I don't like the extra step of chopping and cooking it.  lol

 

I used 7 medium sized squash to make my casserole this time and it was the perfect amount.  I slice them about 1/4" thick, put them in a dutch oven and boil them until they are fork tender.

 

When they are cooked, I drained them and begin mashing them with a potato masher while they are still in the colander to get some of the water out.  Then I transfer them back to the dutch oven to finish smashing them.

I add in the cheese first so that the hot squash can melt it.  Then I add in the sour cream, House Seasoning, and cracker crumbs.

I have always used my oval baker from Pampered Chef to make this casserole.  It fits the dish perfectly and the stoneware helps it stay warm longer.  So I pour it in and top it with some extra cheese.  If you are making your casserole ahead of time (like me) this is wear you would stop, cover it with foil, and put it in the fridge until you are ready to bake it.

Tomorrow, I will take it out of the fridge, uncover it, top it with the cracker crumbs, and bake it for about half an hour--until it is hot and a little bubbly.  I have found that if I put the cracker crumbs on it before putting it in the fridge, they get soggy and just don't crisp up and get brown like they should.  I will update this post with a picture of the finished product after our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.  Enjoy!

Whatever you are serving tomorrow, I hope you have a wonderful feast with family and/or friends.  Happy Thanksgiving!