Squash and Califlower Panade (Bread Casserole)
Published June 10, 2023
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PrintSpoon into this green, gold and crusty brown topography and release the perfume of nutty Gruyere and funky fontina. As with all panades, you may need a little more bread, or have some left over; ditto with the liquid, depending on the size and shape of your baking container. (When I bake this dish in a stoneware tureen, I make sure the broth is hot and allow an extra half hour baking time.) Serve sausage alongside for a hefty entrée. For great leftovers, should there be any, see “Best of All” at post-gazette.com/food. – Virginia Phillips
- 1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced yellow onions, a sweet variety if possible (about 6 cups)
- 1/2 cup mild-tasting olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- Salt
- 1 pound green Swiss chard, thick ribs removed and cut into 1-inch-wide ribbons
- A little water as needed
- 10 ounces day-old chewy peasant-style bread (I used about half a loaf of Mediterra Farm Bread) cut into rough 1-inch cubes (8 to 10 cups)
- Up to 4 cups chicken stock
- About 6 ounces fontina or Gruyere (a combination works well), coarsely grated (about 2 cups very loosely packed)
- Preparing the onions, chard and breadPlace the onions in a deep 4-quart saucepan and drizzle and toss with oil to coat, about 1/4 cup. Set over medium-high heat and, shimmying the pan occasionally, cook until the bottom layer of onions is slightly golden around the edges, about 3 minutes. Stir and repeat.
Once the second layer of onions has colored, reduce the heat to low and stir in the garlic and a few pinches of salt. Stew, stirring occasionally, until the onions are a pale amber color and tender but not mushy, another 20 minutes or so. If at any point the onions look as if they may dry out, cover them to trap some of the moisture in the pan. Taste for salt. You should get about 21/4 cups cooked onions.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (or as low as 250 degrees, if it suits your schedule to stretch the cooking time from about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes; the slower the bake, the more unctuous and mellow the results).
Wilt prepared chard in batches: Place a few handfuls of leaves in a 3-quart saute pan or a 10-to 12-inch skillet with a drizzle of oil, a sprinkling of water (if you’ve just washed the chard, it may have enough on the leaves), and a few pinches of salt. Set the pan over medium heat until the water begins to steam, then reduce the heat and stir and fold leaves until they are just wilted, 3 to 4 minutes.
Leaves should be uniformly bright green, the white veins pliable (the veins will blacken later if they are not heated through).
Taste. The chard may be slightly metallic-tasting at this point, but make sure it’s salted to your taste. Set aside.
Toss and massage the cubed bread with a few tablespoons of olive oil, a generous 1/4 cup of the stock and a few pinches of salt, to taste.
Building
Choose a flameproof, 3-quart souffle dish or enameled cast-iron Dutch oven. Assemble the panade in layers, starting with a generous smear of onions, followed by a loose mosaic of bread cubes, a second layer of onions, a wrinkled blanket of chard, and a handful of the cheese.
Repeat, starting with bread, the onions and so on, until the dish is brimming. Aim for 2 to 3 layers of each component, then make sure the top layer displays a little of everything. Irregularity in the layers makes the final product more interesting and lovely. Drizzle with any remaining olive oil.
Bring the remaining 3 3/4 cups stock to a simmer and taste for salt. Add stock slowly, in doses, around the edge of the dish. For a very juicy, soft panade, best served on its own, like a soup or risotto, add stock nearly to the rim; for a firm but succulent panade, nice as a side dish, fill to about 1 inch below the rim. Wait a minute for stock to be absorbed, then add more to return to the desired depth. The panade may rise a little as the bread swells.
Baking
Set panade over low heat and bring to a simmer; look for bubbles around the edges (heating it here saves at least 30 minutes of oven time; it also means every panade you bake starts at the same temperature, so you can better predict total cooking times).
Cover the top of the panade with parchment paper, then very loosely wrap the top and sides with foil. Place a separate sheet of foil under the panade or on the rack below it, to catch drips.
Bake until the panade is piping hot and bubbly. It will rise a little, lifting the foil with it. The top should be pale golden in the center and slightly darker on the edges. This usually takes about 1 1/2 hours, but varies according to shape and material of baking dish and oven. (You can hold the panade for another hour or so; just reduce the temperature to 275 degrees until 20 minutes before serving.)
Browning and serving
Uncover panade, raise temperature to 375 degrees, and leave until golden brown on top, 10 to 20 minutes. (If you aren’t quite ready when your panade is, re-tent the surface with parchment and foil and reduce the heat to 275 degrees. You can hold it another half hour this way without it overbrowning or drying out.)
Slide a knife down the side of the dish and check the consistency of the panade. Beneath the crust, it should be very satiny and it should ooze liquid as you press against it with the blade of the knife. If it seems dry, add a few tablespoons simmering chicken stock and bake for 10 minutes longer.
Serves 8.
-- "The Zuni Cafe Cookbook" by Judy Rodgers, W.W. Norton, 2002
Toasting the oiled bread adds richness to this fruity, earthy-sweet flavor mixture. The red wine bronzes the brown and orange components. When I baked this in a wide, glazed 3-quart casserole, I needed a couple of extra bread slices. – Virginia Phillips
- 5 onions
- Olive oil or duck fat
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 12 sprigs thyme
- 1 cup red wine
- 3 quarts chicken stock
- 2 pounds acorn or butternut squash
- 1 pound chanterelles (I used 4 ounces mixed wild and 12 ounces sliced cremini)
- Salt and pepper
- 10 slices stale country-style bread
- About 3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Meanwhile, peel and seed squash and cut it into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Clean, slice and saute mushrooms in a few tablespoons of olive oil until brown. Salt and pepper them, and add to simmering stock.
In a saute pan over medium heat, lightly brown slices of bread in more olive oil or duck fat (alternative: oil the slices and bake them at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until dry and lightly golden).
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Assemble panade: Cover the bottom of a large casserole with half bread slices and pour in enough broth (including the onions and the mushrooms) to cover. Make a single layer of sliced squash on top and pour in more broth, to cover.
Make a layer with the rest of the bread, add more broth so that the top layer of bread is well soaked through, and finish by grating parmesan over the top to cover lightly.
Bake, covered, for 45 minutes; then uncover and bake for about 45 minutes more, until well browned.
To serve, scoop the panade into bowls and ladle more of the broth around it.
Serves 8 to 10.
– “Chez Panisse Vegetables” by Alice Waters and the Cooks of Chez Panisse (Morrow, 1996)
The key: caramelizing the onions first for an hour, slowly, to a deep color. The panade bakes in an hour. When made with homemade beef stock it is the crusty-topped onion soup of your dreams. But it is very good made with chicken broth too. Serve in warmed bowls with a big salad. – Virginia Phillips
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pounds yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dry thyme
- 5 slices levain bread (8 ounces), Mediterra's or Breadwork's ciabatta or sourdough are good
- 1 cup fruity red wine
- 4 cups beef broth or poultry stock. (If no homemade beef broth, chicken broth is a better option than canned beef broth, which in large quantities, can contribute odd flavors, to say the least)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
Warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil in an 8-by-10-by-2-inch baking dish or heavy-bottomed casserole or earthenware bowl large enough to contain the sliced onions. Add onions, salt and thyme and stir well to coat onions with oil. Adjust heat to low, so that the onions sizzle gently. Cook them slowly for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, brush bread slices with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, lay them on a baking tray, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until they are dry and lightly toasted.
By now onions will have reduced in volume considerably, softened, and browned lightly. Add wine and scrape up brown bits on the bottom or sides of pan. Stir in beef broth and pepper mixture liberally.
Rub the bread slices with the garlic clove. Break up bread and lay half of it into a baking dish. Cover the bread with a thick layer of onions, removed with a slotted spoon.
Set 3 cups of the onion broth aside. Ladle about 1/2 of remaining onion broth over the bread slices and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the parmesan cheese over the layer. Form another layer using the remaining bread, onions, broth and cheese. Bake in oven for about 1 hour, until broth has nearly all been absorbed and the cheese on top has formed a gratin. Divide soup among 6 wide warmed bowls, keeping crusty surface intact.
Heat reserved onion broth and pour about 1/2 cup around each serving.
Serves 6 to 8.
– “Chez Panisse Cooking” by Paul Bertolli with Alice Walters (Random House, 1994)
- 3 large leeks (white and light green parts only), chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 5 green garlic shoots or 8 to 10 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- 1-pound loaf stale chewy bread with crust
- 1 1/2 pounds (about 10 cups) mixed leafy greens (sorrel, chard, parsley leaves, arugula, spinach, and watercress), deribbed and shredded
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Freshly ground pepper
- Grated nutmeg
- 3 cups whole milk, heated to simmering
- 1/2 pound Cantal or Gruyere cheese
In a 7- or 8- quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Slowly stew the leeks, onion, and garlic for 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cook for 5 more minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) degrees.
Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. You should have about 2 quarts. Spread the cubes in one layer on an oiled baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until just golden. Let cool and store until ready to use.
Add the greens to the pot, cover, and cook over low heat for 45 minutes. Uncover and boil away excess liquid. Allow to cool. Add the lemon juice, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Correct the salt. (Up to this point the recipe can be prepared 1 day in advance. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)
About 2 1/2 hours before serving, oil a deep 3-quart casserole, preferably earthenware. Place one-third of the bread cubes in the dish, top with half the greens, and repeat, ending with the bread cubes and patting lightly to make an even topping. Gradually pour the hot milk down the insides and over the top of the panade so everything is moist. If necessary, add 1/2 cup water. Cover with the grated cheese and a sheet of foil.
Bake in a preheated 250 degrees F (120 degrees C)-degree oven for 1 3/4 hours. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), uncover, and bake 20 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to relax for about 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 8.
– Paula Wolfert_from “The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen” by Paula Wolfert (Wiley, 2003)
6 tablespoons butter
Related
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Field Report: Will Work for Food (September 12, 2010)
2 leeks, white parts only, finely chopped (about 1½ cups)
6 cups whole milk
Salt
4-6 slices day-old country bread, each 1 inch thick
1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled, seeded and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
1 bunch black kale or Swiss chard, center stems removed
1 head cauliflower (about 1½ pounds), trimmed and cut into ½-inch-thick slices
½ pound fontina cheese, thinly sliced
Heavy cream, optional.
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the milk, the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat.
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Cover the bottom of a heavy, ovenproof 5-quart pot with 2 or more slices of the bread. Arrange the squash slices in an even layer on top of the bread and pour in 2 cups of the hot milk mixture. Top with 2 or 3 slices of bread and then with the kale. Arrange the cauliflower slices over the kale. Press down on the
Ingredients
- to compact them if they don’t quite fit into the pot.
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- Pour the remaining milk mixture over the top. Stop adding the milk when the level is almost to the rim. Season with salt. Cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and arrange the cheese over the top. Return to the oven uncovered and bake until the liquid is absorbed and reduced and the cheese has melted and browned, 30 to 40 minutes. (When the panade has cooled, it should appear dry.) Serve immediately or let cool and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, cut the panade into wedges and put on individual ovenproof plates. Pour ¼ cup cream over the top of each wedge and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 375. Serves 6. Adapted from “Tartine Bread,†by Chad Robertson.
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