Caramelized Summer Squash and Onions
Onions aren’t the only thing you can caramelize. And some things are better caramelized along with onions. This recipe takes the Southern classic dish of summer squash and onions, but reduces it all to a spreadable flavor bomb. This recipe is adapted from Vivian Howard's Squash and Onions recipe published in Deep Run Roots.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds summer squash
- 1 ½ pounds onions
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 2 ounces cooking fat bacon fat, butter or vegetable oil - see note
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the squash into ¼ inch slices. If they are large you may want to slice them end to end first. Julienne slice the onions. Mince the garlic.
- Add the cooking fat to a large pot (at least 5 quarts) and heat it on medium high.
- Add the squash, onions, garlic and salt and pepper to the pot. Stir the pot from top to bottom to disperse the cooking fats over the vegetables. The raw squash and onions can fill a 5 quart pot, so this will be difficult at first, but they will quickly reduce in size making stirring easier.
- Stir occasionally as the squash and onions give up their water and poach in their own juices.
- After their water has evaporated, browning will start to happen. A brown fond should develop on the sides and bottom of the pan. Using a wooden spatula, scrape the fond from the pan and stir it into the squash and onions. Repeat this regularly. If this gets away from you, take the pot off heat, stir in a tablespoon of water, and let things sit for a couple minutes. This should loosen the fond and allow you to scrape it into the dish. Return to heat and continue the process.
- Expect the total time on heat to be about 60 minutes. The dish is done when the squash and onions have gained considerable brown color and have reduced to less than one fifth their original size,
Notes
Bacon fat is traditional in a Southern squash and onions recipe and adds nice flavor. Butter works well, bringing it's own flavor which is enhanced by the browning that happens in this recipe. Olive oil or vegetable oil can be used to make this recipe vegan.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!