GET TO WORK: Butternut squash and kale strata

Ragazzi, have you ever wondered 'are those timings on recipes right?"  You know, the ones that say  "20 minutes of active time, 600 minutes in total," or something along those lines?  And how often have you moved away from a recipe because it "took too long?"  Hmmm.  Thought so.  Well, now  you see HOW MUCH Annalena loves you in this recipe.  See, she thought it looked really interesting, really good, and really satisfying:  but it said that it took ONE FULL HOUR of work time, and then the cooking time.

Really?  Clearly, this was NOT for a night home from her office.  But it was for an afternoon away.  Annalena was sick and tired.  Not sick, not tired, but sick and tired, and came home from work early one day last week, and made this dish. And in so doing, she timed herself. Sometimes the timings are not accurate.  In this case, it pretty much was.  It took Annalena 45 minutes of pretty active work time, from start to finish, to get this in the oven.  And she's pretty adept in the kitchen, don'tcha know?   So, plan on an hour or so to  make this.  But make it, please.  It is SO good.  And if you need a vegetarian entree, well, this is it.

"Strata" is a dish that is distinctly Italian American.  At its origins, it was a way to use up left over bread (remember: it's a sin to waste bread amongst Annalena's peeps), and left overs.  You could put ANYTHING into  one.  Of course, this does not  take into account issues of how good it would taste, etc.  Most of the ones Annalena has experienced had sausage of some kind in them, and sometimes greens.  She may have had a vegetarian one or two, but can't remember.   And Annalena not remembering things, is nothing new.

OK, so let's go, bambini, because we have a  LOT to do, beginning with our  shopping.  Your main vegetables are two pounds of peeled, cubed, butternut squash.  A butternut squash weighs much more than you may think, so you'll probably be wanting to come up with something else to do with the left over squash you will have.  You also need one large, or two small, bunches of kale.  Don't use lascinato here. Use the Russian, or the  standard kale, and strip all the leaves off of the branches.    You will also want to s lice two onions fairly thin (size doesn't matter here), and chop a small one.  You also want to chop up about six cloves of garlic.

WHEW.  And we're JUST getting started.  Now get  2.5 cups of milk (2% or whole), a cup of heavy cream, and half a cup of creme fraiche.  Don't mix them together.. yet.  

Still with Annalena?  There's more.  You also need 8 large eggs, and you need a multigrain baguette loaf, which you will cube .  No taking off the crust here.    And... finally,  two or three sprigs of chopped thyme, a little hot pepper, and butter and olive oil.

NOW we start to cook.  Preheat your oven to 425, and spread 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a baking sheet.  Toss the butternut squash in this, and then sprinkle some salt over it.  Roast it for half an hour, and stir it after fifteen minutes.  You'll let that cool when it's done, but in the meantime...

Chop up those kale leafs, and toss them with the garlic into some HOT olive oil in a big skillet.  Probably 2 tablepsoons or so.   When the kale collapses, add the hot pepper, and half of the thyme.

NOW, put the kale into a bowl, and add some more oil to that pan, and add the  sliced onions.    Lower the heat, and cook them until they brown.  It may take about fifteen minutes.   Stir them every now and then, and when they're done, dump them in with the kale.

Now, we're gonna make a bechamela.  You need a heavy sauce pan, and you add 2.5 tablepoons of unsalted butter to this, and melt it at medium low heat.  Add your CHOPPED onion, the rest of your thyme, and cook for a minute.  Add  a quarter cup of flour, and stir, without stopping, until you get a very unpromising, slightly golden mess.   To this, add a cup of the milk.  Stir with a whisk, until you get something that looks a whole lot like wallpaper paste.     Take this off the heat, and add the rest of the dairy, and two teaspoons of salt.  Let THAT cool.

When the squash is done, mix that together with the veggies you've already cooked.  So, at this point you have a lot of dirty pots and pans, a bowl with vegetables in it, and a pot of bechamel sauce.  ALMOST  there.  When the bechamel is cool, add the eggs, and stir them together. (This is why it needs to be cool, ragazzi.  You don't want the eggs to cook. And now combine everything with the vegetables.

And.... now mix in the bread cubes.  (You better have a REALLY big bowl.).  Push the bread down, and let it sit for at least half an hour.  If you can , you can put this in the fridge overnight.  Most of us don't have the luxury of that much space though.

So after a half hour or so, grease a big enamel or glass baking dish (9x13), and pour the mass in.   Set the oven to 325, and bake this for an hour.

AND NOW.... increase the heat to 475, sprinkle a half cup of grated parmesan over it, and bake another ten minutes or so.

ARE WE THERE YET?  Yes, we are.  And you have a good, late night meal, a hearty breakfast, a dish for vegetarian lunch that does need a nice salad, and hopefully, someone to clean up your kitchen.

Don't complain ragazzi.  You got lots of quickies from Annalena lately (and the next one will be a quickie too, with everyone's favorite, shrimp).  So, go do yourself a good deed and make this strata.  You will be hard pressed to keep from eating it before you serve it,  and ultimately, you may say "that wasn't very hard at all."

But Annalena has her doubts...