If you want a double bang for your veggie buck, this is it. I based this recipe on a similar one from Jamie Oliver. It’s a great side dish with any main course, especially a steak or roasted chicken.
And it’s up to you…if you don’t want to do any chopping, you can easily use frozen veggies.
Bouquet garni is an herb blend easily found in any supermarket spice section.
To make this dish gluten-free, simply use GF flour for the sauce, and a piece of GF bread for the bread crumb topping.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon bouquet garni
2 cups milk
16 oz. broccoli
32 oz. cauliflower
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 or 2 pieces leftover bread
olive oil
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
salt and pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, stirring constantly to make a roux. Stir in the garlic and bouquet garni. Slowly add the milk, stirring all the time, until you have a nice béchamel sauce. Set it aside for a moment.
In a large pan, pour in the broccoli. (If you’re using frozen, you don’t have to thaw it.) Pour the béchamel sauce over the broccoli, and simmer it over medium heat, covered, for about 20 minutes, until the broccoli is soft and cooked through.
Everything in the pan goes into a blender. Season well with salt and pepper. Whiz it up until you have a broccoli sauce.
In a large ovenproof casserole dish, pour in the cauliflower. (Again, it can be frozen.) Pour the broccoli sauce on top.
Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of that.
In a food processor, tear up and toss in the pieces of bread. (Some day-old Italian bread works great. I had a day-old brioche bun.) Sprinkle in some olive oil. Process until crumbly. Throw in the almonds and process for a few seconds again.
Sprinkle the bread crumb/almond mixture over the cheddar and bake for about 45 minutes until golden and cooked through.
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