Photo credit: © Eatwell101.comDo you have any leftover broccoli in your refrigerator? If so, you are ready for a deliciously hearty broccoli, pancetta and blue cheese casserole! The recipe is nice, especially for a week night dinner. When I decide to buy broccoli, I’m always looking for a recipe that will be nice looking on the plate. I said yes immediately to this dish with vegetable, ham and cheese. What I like in the history of casserole dishes is to serve directly with large wooden spoon and scrape the bottom of the pan, leaving nothing in. You have a choice of a blue cheese or a gorgonzola. This time I used the blue cheese for a change.
Hint: do not salt broccoli too much, because pancetta and cheese are already salty. Otherwise, it is totally inedible.
Preparation time: 20 minutes – Cooking time: 40 min total
Ingredient list for the pancetta, cheese, broccoli casserole
Serves 6
- 1 lb (500 g) broccoli
- 5 1/3 ounces (150 g) pancetta
- 1 large onion
- 2 tsp coffee flour
- 2 cups (50 cl) of semi-skimmed milk
- 4 1/3 ounces (120 g) of blue cheese or gorgonzola
- 1 3/4 ounces (50 g) breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp. of olive oil
- Salt and ground pepper
Cooking instructions
1. Preheat oven to 370°f (190°c).
2. Rinse broccoli. Cut florets into heads. Cook in a saucepan of boiling, salted water for 6-8 minutes, then drain.
3. Grease a large baking dish and arrange the broccoli in it.
4. In a skillet, fry the pancetta and cut in strips until it gets crispy. Add it to the broccoli.
5. In the same pan, sauté the onion for 3 minutes. Add flour and brown for 1 minute over high heat.
6. Add the milk gradually to the onion, stirring and let thicken over low heat.
7. Remove the pan from the heat, add the crumbled cheese and pepper, then stir to melt together.
8. Pour the cheese sauce over broccoli. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake for 25 minutes in the oven.
A little extra tip: Be careful not to add salt because pancetta is already very salty and broccoli were cooked in salted water.
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
(Photo by Eleonora Grosjean)
