Cauliflower Au Gratin

Last updated on August 8th, 2017 at 11:39 am

I’ve had this cauliflower in the fridge for a week now, not knowing what to do with it. I like cauliflower a lot and I’ve recently made a great recipe with cauliflower, my cauliflower poppers which turned out great. However, I wanted something different this time so I decided to make this recipe I once saw on TV, cauliflower au gratin with bechamel sauce.

Gratin is a French word, and it is a culinary technique in which an ingredient is topped with breadcrumbs, cheese or butter and it is baked under a broiler to obtain a brown crust. Trust me, anytime you make anything au gratin it is just phenomenal. This cauliflower au gratin I made with bechamel sauce to which I added some mozzarella cheese and topped it off with some grated Parmesan cheese. Now, if you’re not a cauliflower fan, I understand, my husband isn’t one. But if you are, you will love this dish.

Because I only kept the cauliflower under the broiler for 15 minutes, I cooked the cauliflower first. To cook it is very easy, you just need a big pot with boiling water, to which I added some vinegar and salt. The reason for the vinegar as I understand it, is to whiten the cauliflower, it acts as a sort of bleach and your cauliflower will be nice, clean and white.

You only need to boil the cauliflower for about 10 minutes, you don’t want it mushy. Place the cauliflower in a baking dish and grate some Parmesan cheese over it.

Next I made some bechamel sauce which you can find the recipe here. To the bechamel sauce I added about a cup of mozzarella cheese and cooked it, until it was melted. Pour the bechamel sauce thoroughly over the cauliflower then grate some more Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake under the broiler for about 15 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden brown.

This will make a great side dish for any main entree, or you could just eat it as a snack, that’s how good it is. 🙂

Cauliflower Au Gratin

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets and cleaned
• 2 cups bechamel sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp salt

love what you see?Follow @jocooks on Pinterest!

Instructions

• In a big pot, boil some water and add the vinegar and salt. Cook the cauliflower for about 10 – 15 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender but not mushy.
• Add the mozzarella cheese to the bechamel sauce and cook it until the mozzarella cheese is melted.
• Place the cauliflower in a baking dish. Sprinkle half the Parmesan cheese over the cauliflower.
• Pour the bechamel sauce over the cauliflower and top with remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Bake under the broiler for 15 minutes, or until nice and golden brown.

tried this recipe? rate it belowtag @jocooks on instagram and hashtag it #jocooks!

Enjoy!