It is overcast, drizzly and gloomy in Huntington Beach today. Cooking weather!
My good friend Sarah is an Ina Garten devotee. Well, actually, she is an “Ina ♥ Jeffrey” devotee. Show Sarah a good romance and she’s hooked. Connect the romance to good food and Sarah is lost. (I do have to admit that the Ina loves Jeffrey meme is pretty compelling. I’d cast Barbra Streisand as Ina and Robert Redford as Jeffrey in the movie. No! Wait! That’s been done. Then, again, I’d cast Robert Redford as the romantic lead in just about every movie.)
I do have to admit that this cauliflower gratin is food for the gods! The Gruyere and Asaigo-laced white sauce is to die for and who doesn’t love cauliflower? My kitchen smells wonderful. And the counterpoint of the crunchy-cheesy topping and the smooth cheesy white sauce is spectacular.
This is an adaptation of a recipe from Garten’s Barefoot in Paris book. Buy it. It is a great book.
Sarah convinced me to buy Garten’s newest book, Cooking for Jeffrey. Sarah is an enabler for my cookbook-buying addiction. Bad Sarah.
I’m trying a new piece of software that will permit you to print Blue Cayenne recipes without all the narrative. I tried a different program earlier in the week and it didn’t work out. Cross you fingers that this one doesn’t conflict with any of the other widgets I’m using on this site. A year ago, when I started this blog, I didn’t even know what a widget was.
Yields Serves 4 to 6 persons.
A rich and wonderful cauliflower gratin. Perfect served with a sliced pear salad and a glass of wine.
15 minPrep Time
30 minCook Time
45 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 large head of caulifower (cut into florets)
- Kosher salt
- 4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter (divided)
- 3 T. all-purpose flour
- 2 C. hot milk
- 1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 t. grated nutmeg
- 3/4 C. grated Gruyere cheese (divided)
- 1/2 C. grated Asiago cheese (grated)
- 1/3 C. fresh sourdough bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Divide cauliflower into large florets and cook in boiling water until cauliflower is al dente (tender but firm). This will take 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from water and drain. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan and whisk in flour, stirring constantly for about two minutes. Pour hot milk into the butter and whisk until smooth and thick. This will happen quickly. Remove thickened sauce from heat and whisk in salt, black pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 C. Gruyere cheese, and all of Asiago cheese.
- Pour one third of sauce into a large 8 x 11 x 2 inch baking dish. Arrange drained cauliflower on top of sauce and cover with the remainder of the sauce.
- Combine bread crumbs with the remainder of the Gruyere cheese and sprinkle this mixture on top of the cauliflower. Melt remaining two tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the bread crumbs.
- Bake in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the gratin is browned.
- Serve cauliflower gratin hot or at room temperature.
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