Cauliflower Gratin
Mom used to make a cheese sauce to go on cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, much to the delight of her five kids! I've taken it just a bit further and have chosen to give it a go in the oven just to get some browned bits of cheese sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 heads white cauliflower about 3 pounds
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour or gluten-free 1:1 flour blend
- 1½ cups whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper can use white if you don't want black specks
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ cup Gruyere grated
- 2 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1½ cups fresh bread crumbs see notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Remove the green leaves from the cauliflower and cut the florets from the core. Be sure they are all about the same size so that they cook evenly. Put them in a large sauce pan with a small amount of water, cover, and bring to a boil. Steam until the florets are just barely starting to soften.
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour, then whisk over low heat for about a minute, taking care not to let it start browning. Add the milk and cream while continuing to whisk. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly while the mixture starts to thicken. When the mixture is the right thickness, add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from the heat and add the Gruyere. Stir till it melts.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower florets and coat them generously. Put the coated cauliflower florets in a baking dish, top with Parmesan cheese, and fresh bread crumbs.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes. This generous gap of timing is to allow for the size you cut the florets and how long you steamed them. You don't want to overcook the cauliflower in the steaming step because they need to bake long enough for the cheese sauce to start browning while baking.
Notes
If you have dried, browned bread crumbs rather fresh, sprinkle them on just before serving.
To make this gluten-free: use gluten-free 1:1 flour blend for the roux and make bread crumbs from gluten-free bread. Or buy gluten-free bread crumbs.
To make your own bread crumbs, put fresh bread in the dry container of your high-powered blender or in the bowl of your food processor. Process until you have the size crumb that you want. This works with regular bread as well as gluten-free options.
To make this dairy-free: There are lots of dairy-free options for milk, butter, and cheese in many grocery stores, but here are some other ideas.
- Use a nut milk. I think pecan milk, or macadamia milk would be awesome! Or make your own cashew milk easily by blending 1 cup of cashews with 2 ½ cups of water and a pinch of salt. These can also be purchased if you don't want to make them.
- Instead of a butter substitute, use duck fat if you're not vegetarian.
- I've never seen dairy-free Gruyere! However, there's lots of dairy-free cheddars and that would be delicious as well.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!