Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Cassoulet

Serves 8

1 whole garlic head
4 ounces pancetta, chopped
2 cups vertically sliced onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
1/2 cup organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (16-ounce) cans cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 bay leaf
2 (1-ounce) slices white bread
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap garlic head in foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Set half of garlic pulp aside; reserve remaining garlic pulp for another use. Discard skins.

3. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pancetta; sauté 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan, reserving drippings in pan. Add onion and 1 tablespoon oil to drippings in pan; sauté 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 25 minutes or until onion is very tender and browned, stirring frequently. Stir in vinegar.

4. Preheat oven to 375°.

5. Add garlic pulp, pancetta, squash, and next 6 ingredients (through bay leaf) to onion mixture, stirring well. Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure about 1 cup. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon olive oil; sprinkle evenly over squash mixture. Cover and bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until squash is tender. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until topping is browned. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle with parsley.

Served with sugar snap peas

Results: This may look like a difficult recipe, but it was actually very simple. You just have to pay attention to the cooking times, which are long, but all the cooking takes place in one pot, which is a plus. Our grocery store does not sell pancetta, so I always substitute bacon in recipes that use it. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought groceries, because I ended up buying proscuitto instead of bacon. Bacon would have given it a great crunch. I would also cut down the amount of beans to two cans. Four cans was a bit much.

Both boys asked us to take the butternut squash out, but I don't think either of them ended up touching the meal. This was good, but it was missing something. It almost needed some sort of sauce or cheese (provolone?) to meld the ingredients together. Don't get me wrong, it was very yummy, but it needs some tweaking. This would be a fantastic side dish for a holiday dinner! I'll halve it next time. We have a mountain of leftovers!

Beef Daube Provençal

Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1½ teaspoons salt, divided
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1½ cups chopped onion
½ cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
dash of ground cloves
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf

1. Preheat over to 300°.

2. Heat olive oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and all remaining ingredients to pan; bring to a boil.

3. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 and 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf.

NOTE: to make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours.

Served over egg noodles (I served the boys' egg noodles separately.)

Results: My initial reaction while preparing this meal was that it was not kid-friendly at all. However, Henry ate every single bite of his. He loved it. Steven wouldn't try it, BUT, he sat down and didn't complain. I consider that a success! Chris summed this meal up perfectly when he came home from work and said "Mmmmm...it smells like Christmas in here!" This was a very yummy meal, and I love one-pot cooking! My original intent was to use the slow cooker method, but I ran out of time, so I used the dutch oven instead.

P.S. Chris and I had the leftovers for dinner another night and they were even better! I think the meat had extra time to soak up the flavors, because it was delicious!