If you’re planning a special meal where you were hoping to serve broccoli along with it, consider this Broccoli Gratin. The broccoli is coated lightly with a creamy mustard sauce, and it’s baked with plenty of mustard-infused toasted breadcrumbs on top. I like to call this a good side dish for a Sunday night dinner, and it’s perfect for holiday meals too.
How to make Broccoli Gratin:
The first step is making the breadcrumbs. Don’t use store-bought breadcrumbs for this recipe as it just won’t be the same. Making fresh breadcrumbs is important to the delicious outcome. You’ll toast fresh breadcrumbs in a skillet with butter, onion and garlic. Dijon, dry mustard, salt and pepper are added in for flavor.
How to make fresh breadcrumbs:
You can use any type of bread to make fresh breadcrumbs, but I like to use sourdough for this recipe. Remove the crusts from the bread. Tear the bread into pieces and put them in a food processor fitted with a blade. Pulse the bread in bursts until you have breadcrumbs the size you want.
The best way to cook broccoli:
Cut the broccoli into florets, and drop into boiling water. Cook for just 3-minutes, until crisp-tender. Alternately, you can steam the broccoli in a steamer basket. Remove the broccoli from heat and cool on paper towels. If you have the time and energy, you can plunge the cooked broccoli into a bath of ice water before moving to paper towels. This will ensure that the broccoli cools off quickly and doesn’t continue to cook and become mushier than you want it to be.
If you enjoy the taste of the breadcrumbs in this recipe, consider using them as a topping the next time you make macaroni and cheese! Try this same recipe using cauliflower florets too. Either way, you’ll have a delicious vegetable side dish to serve with your dinner.
Here are a few more broccoli side dish recipes you might like to try:
Broccoli with Toasted Garlic Crumbs Broccoli with Hot Bacon Dressing Sautéed Broccoli with Carrots and Pecans Broccoli with Cheddar Cheese Dunk Roasted Broccoli Broccoli with Two Cheese Sauce Lemon Butter Broccoli Broccoli with Black Olives, Garlic and Lemon
