Fall is here and I’m so excited to start cooking and enjoying comfort food. I love that football is back on and I can hear it in the background while cooking in the kitchen and watching my kids ride bikes out the kitchen window. The weather has been perfect and crisp and the leaves are starting to fall off of the trees. I wanted to make a really yummy Sunday dinner yesterday and relax and enjoy being at home. Strangely enough, my oldest daughter loves cauliflower. She will snack on it gladly day and night so we always have it in the house. I thought a cauliflower gratin would be a hearty and healthy-ish dish to serve and came up with this recipe based off of some potato gratins I’ve made in the past:
Cauliflower Gratin
1 large head of cauliflower sliced into bite size pieces, as uniform as possible
Olive oil
salt and pepper
3 cloves of garlic
Dash of red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried parsley or tbsp fresh parsley
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
1 cup shredded cheese (I did blend of Parmesan, fontina, and asiago)
Heat oven to 400 degrees, put cauliflower in oven safe baking dish and drizzle with about 2 tbsp olive oil and a tsp of salt and pepper, mix together and bake 20 minutes until cauliflower softens. Meanwhile melt butter over low heat in a sauce pan, add garlic and stir releasing aromas. Slowly add in heavy cream and stir. When the cream starts to bubble add 3/4 of the cheese blend and stir until all the cheese is melted. Add in red pepper flakes and parsley. When cauliflower has softened and started to brown in the oven, pull out and pour over the cheese/cream mixture and mix evenly. Pour remaining shredded cheese on top and bake for approx 15-20 minutes more until its nicely browned on top and sauce has thickened. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.