Nacho Cauliflower Gratin
I’ve previously claimed to not really like cauliflower but, you guys, I am SOLD!!! My fabulous mother in law brought a cauliflower gratin over for our Thanksgiving feast that I thought was really tasty. So I thought, why not kick it up a notch? I already have a squash and cheddar cheese fondue as well as a chile con queso dip recipe that I occasionally alter slightly and use as a mac and cheese sauce base which would be perfect for a gratin as well. So, creative girl that I try to be, I figured I could combine the best flavors of all of them and make a kickin’ nacho cauliflower gratin!
To make sure the cauliflower gratin doesn’t end up too watery and cause your cheesy delightful sauce to separate, boil the cauliflower first for about ten minutes until it’s tender crisp. Then, drain it in a colander and spread it out into a tea towel or cheesecloth. Let it cool until it’s cool enough to handle and then squeeze it until you’ve gotten as much water out of it as you can. It can then be stirred into the gratin sauce. This cauliflower gratin also has pureed squash in it for added veggie value along with the cauliflower. The addition of pureed squash makes the sauce doubly rich and creamy 🙂
- 1 large head of cauliflower, cut or broken into florets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1-2 spicy chili peppers, any kind depending on how spicy you want it, finely diced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup gruyere cheese, shredded
- 1 cup cooked and pureed squash
- 1¼ cup unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or whole milk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 green onion, sliced
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and place cauliflower in the pot.
- Boil cauliflower until tender crisp, about 8-10 minutes.
- Drain cauliflower in a colander and then dump onto a tea towel. Let cool.
- When cauliflower is cool enough to handle, wrap in the tea towel and squeeze out excess water.
- While cauliflower is cooling, heat the olive oil and saute garlic, shallot and peppers until fragrant in the same sauce pot used for the cauliflower.
- Whisk egg into the milk.
- Add milk mixture, squash, cheddar and gruyere cheeses, mustard, salt, pepper and green onion to the sauteed garlic and combine.
- Heat until the cheeses are melted.
- Add cauliflower to the cheese mixture and stir to combine.
- Pour gratin into a lightly greased 2 quart baking dish and top with parmesan.
- Bake 30 minutes until top is beginning to brown.
- Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.
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