IHRDb: Baked Squash

Back when I was in grad school, I lived down the street from a Black-Eyed Pea restaurant. The Black-Eyed Pea is a casual, sit-down restaurant chain that serves homestyle comfort food, like chicken fried steak, pot roast, and meatloaf. However, my favorite dish to eat there was one of their vegetable sides - the baked squash casserole, er, I mean hotdish. It was so good that my roommates and I would often get a second helping of squash to go along with the one that came with the entree.

Though I no longer live in Colorado (nor in Texas) where the restaurants are located, I found a recipe that is an adequate facsimile of the original, so I will offer it as the second entry in the IHRDb:

Baked squash hotdish

8-10 medium-size yellow squash
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), plus additional for topping
1 stick butter or margarine, plus 1 tablespoon for topping, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Cut tips off squash and cut each squash into 3 or 4 pieces. Drop squash into a large pot with enough boiling water to cover. Return to boil, reduce heat, and cook until tender. Drain in colander and mash with a potato masher.

Combine with beaten eggs, panko, the stick of butter, sugar, salt, onion and pepper. Turn into Pyrex dish that has been lightly greased or sprayed with nonstick spray. Mix a small amount of panko with the additional melted butter. Sprinkle casserole with a light layer of buttered panko. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.