Improvised Gratin

One of my husband's coworkers also distributes cheeses and occasionally he gives us some samples of different kinds. Yesterday, we got a block of Feta, which is very finicky so I decided to use it right away.

This was actually an adaptation to a friend's recipe. She uses yellow squash but I tried butternut and spinach. They went well with the feta. I just used too much topping and will use less next time.

Butternut , Spinach and Feta Cheese Gratin

3 cups butternut squash

2 cups spinach

1 leek stem only (no leaves), cleaned and sliced (or 1 onion, sliced thin)

4 cloves of garlic chopped and minced

1 tsp ground black pepper

Salt

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 /2 cup fat-free greek iogurt

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

2 cups cooked basmati rice

1 cup crumbed or cubbed feta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 TB parsley chopped

1 tsp oregano

Topping

Crackers

1 TB olive oil or melted butter.

Pulse 3 times or until moist.

Preheat oven to 375°. Saute garlic and leek/onion. Add butternut squash, half the amount of pepper, oregano and some salt, if necessary, because the cheeses already contain salt. Cover and cook until squash is tender. Add the spinach leaves and remove from heat. Reserve. Combine leftover pepper, yogurt, milk, egg, squash mixture, basmati rice, cheeses, parsley, and left over oregano. Pour into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over rice. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until brown on top.

source: Julie