Oct 17, 2006
I combined suggestions by previous testers, introduced my own touches, and my husband absolutely loved it!
(1) I used only 1/2 c broth which, as other testers commented, was the perfect amount.
(2) Based on another AllRecipes member suggestion, I used red pepper, which gave it another flavor tone.
(3) I cubed the squash, apples, and onions into large pieces, because I like chunky casseroles.
(4) Because of the size of the chunks, I baked for roughly 90 minutes, possibly even 2 hours (lost track), at 350 F. No worse for wear by baking longer--just made the squash, apples, and onions more tender.
(5) Instead of white flour, I used 1/4 c wheat germ on a whim, and then added a dusting of whole wheat flour. This absorbed the the liquid, creating a thick binding "sauce", and added an extra element of mouthfeel.
(6) I didn't bother "layering" but instead tossed all the ingredients together, which I liked because the cheese was distributed throughout. I used 50% fat reduced Colby cheddar cheese. Tossing the shredded cheese throughout helped hide the fact that as usual, it didn't melt terribly well. The cheese combined with the broth to help create a sauce.
Instead of sprinkling the bacon only on the top, I also tossed crisped turkey bacon through the casserole towards the end of the baking time.
(7) To save on calories, I didn't grease the Anchor Hocking glass casserole dish I used. There was absolutely no need because nothing stuck.
—vkrn
