Bless Her Heart

`Squash casserole is another classic Southern side made with squash smothered in butter, cream and cheese…and topped with buttery cracker topping

Comfort food truly at its best.

• 5 yellow squash, sliced ¼” thick
  • 1tsp salt
  • 4Tbsp butter
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • ½tsp pepper
  • 8oz sour cream
  • ½C mayonnaise
  • 2 eggs
  • ½C grated parmesan cheese
  • 1½C shredded cheddar cheese
  • ½C shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ½C shredded Swiss cheese
  • 2 sleeves round buttery crackers (such as Ritz), coarsely crushed

Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sautee: Melt butter in a skillet. Add onions. Sauté onions until translucent. Add sliced squash, salt and pepper. Cook 10min, until the squash is a little soft, but not mushy. Stir the squash often to release steam and prevent browning.

Drain: Squash contain a lot of water. So it’s important that you get as much liquid out of the squash during the initial cooking as possible to prevent a watery casserole.

Once you sauté your squash, drain all of the liquid from the pan and let the sautéed squash sit in a colander for 10 minutes to drain out any remaining liquid.

Make the sauce: fold together sour cream, mayonnaise, cheese, egg, salt, and pepper.

Combine: gently fold the sauce into the sautéed squash. Stir gently, being careful not to break the squash up. Transfer to 2.5 qt casserole dish.

Top: Melt 2Tbsp butter in microwave. Crumble Ritz crackers into a bowl. Add the melted butter. Spread mixture evenly over casserole.

Bake: bake at 350°F for 25min, until the casserole is a little bubbly and the topping is lightly browned.

Make ahead: make it a few days ahead, but leave the toppimg off for now. Cover. Refrigerate overnight. Add topping right before baking.

To freeze: leave the cracker crumb topping off the casserole until you’re ready to bake. Thaw the frozen squash casserole overnight in the fridge, then add the crumbs and bake until heated through.