Lidia's Marinated Winter Squash

By BobD

Squash is becoming ever more popular, and I love cooking with it and its fabulous flavor as well. This is a great side dish or appetizer— traditionally the zucca is fried before it is marinated, as I do here, but it is also delicious when grilled or boiled first. Though I recommend butternut squash, acorn, Hubbard, and other varieties will work as well.

Ingredients

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt, or more to taste
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2-pound butternut squash
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 10-20 fresh basil leaves

Preparation

Step 1

Mix the vinegar, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt together in a small saucepan. Let simmer over high heat until the sauce is reduced by half. Remove from the heat, drop in the garlic slices, and let the marinade cool. Stir in the olive oil.

Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil into a deep skillet, and set over medium- high heat. When the oil

same way. Arrange a single layer of fried squash in the bottom of the marinating dish, and scatter four some of the shredded basil leaves on top. Stir up the marinade, and drizzle a couple of spoonfuls over squash. Continue to layer the squash in the dish, topping each layer of fried slices with basil leaves, and garlic marinade. All the seasonings should be used— drizzle any remaining marinade over the top layer of squash.