Christie, of a
Kitchen Hoor's Adventures , invited members of our Festive Foodies group to join her on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week posting recipes to help our readers get ready for Easter.
I will be joining in the fun for all three days, starting with a vegetable side that is sure to be a hit for your Easter Banquet.
I don't know about you but I like to go all out on Holidays and Easter is my favorite Holiday of all. We will have a sit down dinner that will start with a first course, normally some sort of seafood. This is followed by soup and then a salad. The entrée will contain 3 or 4 meats. There is always Ham, always Kielbasa, usually lamb and then a beef or chicken dish of some sort. Sides always include some sort of potato dish and usually a sweet potato dish of some sort, as well. Baked pineapple and baked beans to go with the ham. Several vegetables are also served. Fresh asparagus and buttered corn for sure and then one or two more. There is always a butter lamb and fresh baked bread. We gorge and then eat leftovers all week long.
This Broccoli and Blue Cheese Gratin is so good and I promise that if you leave off the blue cheese in the title even blue cheese haters will eat it, love it and be none the wiser. And as a bonus, the leftovers can be turned into a kick butt soup.
This recipe is adapted from one I found in a Williams Sonoma cookbook. I used gorgonzola cheese to keep it mild, as my husband and some of the kids don't care for blue cheese. I didn't mention to them that there was blue cheese in the dish. They loved it and a couple of them went back for seconds.
This dish can be made ahead of time but wait to add the bread crumbs right before it goes into the oven so it doesn't get soggy.
This is a great side for Easter because many enjoy ham for dinner. I think that nothing is better with ham than broccoli and cheese. YUM
Stop by and visit all the other Easter Recipes. You will find links at the bottom of this post.
Broccoli and Blue Cheese Gratin
adapted from William Sonoma
2 - 3 lbs. broccoli florets
1/4 stick butter
4 T. flour
2 1/2 c. milk, full fat
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz. crumbled gorgonzola cheese
3/4 c. dried bread crumbs
Place the broccoli florets in a steamer and cook for about 15 minutes, until tender.
While broccoli is steaming, melt the butter in a saucepan over med high heat. Add the flour and whisk in. Reduce the heat to low and add the milk, whisking constantly until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat for 10-15 minutes until thickened. Stir in blue cheese just until melted and remove from heat.
Add the broccoli to the blue cheese sauce and gently fold in until coated. Pour mixture into a casserole that has been treated with butter or cooking spray. Don't worry if it is soupy, it will continue to thicken as it bakes. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and bake in a preheated 350* oven for about half an hour, until hot and bubbly and the bread crumbs are toasty brown.
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Monday Easter Week Recipes
