Yellow Squash Casserole

Our garden is overflowing with squash right now. We pretty much eat it in some form, everyday. I feel like Bubba from Forrest Gump with the shrimp. Seriously. It's probably my favorite summer vegetable, though, so I don't really mind.

I made this squash casserole tonight to go with our pork roast, green beans, and mashed potatoes. It was SUPER good.

Yellow Squash Casserole

1 3/4 pounds yellow squash
1/4 pound zucchini, or additional squash if you don't have/like zucchini
1/2 cup coarse-chopped carrots
1/2 cup butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 cup Ritz cracker crumbs
1/2 cup grated medium cheddar cheese
a few shakes of Tabasco sauce (this really added nice flavor)
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs, lightly beaten (note: I subsituted two heaping spoonfuls of mayo for the eggs just because I think it tastes better)

Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a medium baking dish.

Slice the squash and zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then cut 1/2 inch thick wedges. Place the squash, zucchini, and carrots in a saucepan and barely cover with water and salt well. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium and cover. Cook about twenty minutes, until the veggies are soft.

Meanwhile, warm three tablespoons of the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion and cook until translucet, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Scrape the mixture into a mixing bowl. Wipe out the skillet, return to medium low heat, and add it to the remaining tablespoon of butter Stir in 1/2 cup of the cracker crumbs and cook until the crumbs are golden (yeaaah, I didn't do that. Too much trouble.) Scrape them out into a smaller plate and reserve them.

Drain the squash mixture, mashing the vegetables a bit (the Pampered Chef mix and masher or mix and chop works great for this task). Spoon it into the mixing bowl. Stir in the remaining 3/4 cup of cracker crumbs, cheese and a good splash or two of the pepper sauce. Salt and pepper generously to taste. Stir in the eggs (or mayo) and spoon into prepared baking dish. Scatter the toasted (or not toasted!) cracker crumbs over the top (I also covered with a bit more cheese). Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes.

So good!