Broiled Creamy Bean & Squash Toasts

A treat for when you get home from the party

One of my favorite categories of holiday food is the dinner I’ll make myself when I get home from an after-work party, where the only nibbles I’ve had are a few cubes of cheese and some crudités. I’m hungry, so I need it to be quick, but it’s the holidays, so I also need it to be a bit of a treat.

For this year’s installment, I offer this variation of beans on toast. Cubes of roasted squash are combined with white beans and some chopped up gherkins (for a little tang and punchiness), and then it’s all cloaked in béchamel and broiled, like an open-faced croque monsieur. There’s a smear of mustard in there, and a little bit of hard cheese, too, both of which serve to play against the richness of the béchamel.

One note — I’m a fan of keeping roasted squash on hand, particularly in these winter months, and I developed this recipe with roasted squash as an ingredient. You’ll want to plan ahead. But any kind of squash will do; just make sure not to overcook it, because you want its structure in tact.