In this otherwise humble truffle cauliflower gratin, we’ll use another, much more delicious delivery system of truffles: truffled Pecorino cheese. For less than $10 worth of cheese, I think you can get a nicer, truer truffle flavor. By the way, if you know they actually make this cheese with synthetic truffle oil, please keep it to yourself, and don’t spoil it for me.
Prep Time::15 mins
Cook Time::45 mins
Total Time:: 1 hr
Servings::8
Ingredients
7 tablespoons butter, divided
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
5 ounces truffled pecorino cheese, grated, or more to taste
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 large head cauliflower, cored and separated into florets
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or more to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, or to taste
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter.
Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk flour into butter; cook and stir until raw flour taste cooks off, 2 to 3 minutes.
Gradually whisk milk into flour mixture. Increase heat to medium-high; cook and stir until mixture thickens and comes to a simmer, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir truffled pecorino cheese, salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg into milk mixture until cheese sauce thickens.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add cauliflower and cook until slightly tender, about 6 minutes. Drain and transfer cauliflower to the prepared baking dish.
Spread cheese sauce evenly over cauliflower. Dust with bread crumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Bake in the preheated oven until browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh chives.
Allrecipes Magazine