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Choose-Your-Cheese Cauliflower Casserole |
A creamy cauliflower side dish casserole where you choose the cheese. I chose blue cheese, what’s your choice?
First of all, I LOVE cauliflower. I could seriously eat it every day without ever getting tired of it. I remember seeing a casserole made with it and blue cheese quite a while ago on Recipe Lion. Search as I might, I could not find that particular casserole.
Whatever cheese you pick, it’s delicious |
These types of casseroles are pretty much generic and if you can make a basic white sauce, you’re totally covered! Most recipes also called for a head of fresh, but I didn’t want to bother with that. I wanted to use frozen.
Deliciously buttery and cheesy |
I started out with 1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese, but a taste test proved this amount did not have enough “moxie” for my taste, so I increased it to 1/2 cup–which tasted like blue cheese but not enough to blow your socks off. If you want intense cheese flavor, add more–there’s really no limit.
Buttery and yummy crumbs |
Since anything of this sort seems to taste better with buttered Ritz crumbs on top, I added those. The result? A side dish I could have eaten as a main course.
Don’t miss out on my Temp-Tations by Tara giveaway, details on the Cinnamon Raisin Bread post.
The Recipe
Choose-Your-Cheese Cauliflower Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 16 oz frozen cauliflower florets each
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 5 tbsp flour
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup blue cheese -OR- Swiss cheese -OR- Asiago cheese
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- salt*
TOPPING
- 1/2 sleeve Ritz crackers crushed
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- *Add desired amount of salt to the sauce AFTER you've added the cheese and the cheese has melted. Blue cheese, for example, is quite salty so you may not need to add.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray a 2-quart baking dish.
- Shred or crumble any cheese you are using.
- Partially cook cauliflower by placing frozen florets in a deep saucepan and covering with water. You can add a tsp of salt if you wish. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Drain and place in prepared baking dish.
- Melt the 3 tbs of butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and blend (this is a roux). When roux begins to bubble, slowly add the milk, while constantly stirring, to prevent lumps. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Remove from heat and add whichever cheese you are using. Stir until cheese is melted (yes, you can use more or less cheese depending on your taste). Correct any seasoning at this point.
- Pour sauce over cauliflower in baking dish.
- Mix topping ingredients and distribute over top of casserole.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until completely heated through and sauce bubbles.
- Makes 4-6 servings.
Nutrition
Chose-Your-Cheese Cauliflower Casserole |
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Lori A. says
I love how cute they are!
Anna Lavender says
I love the designs on the bakeware.
Judith Hanneman says
That's the light blue Floral Lace 🙂
Tara Noland says
You can never have too many dishes and these are so cute!!
deb1262 says
SO CUTE!!!!