Baked Cauliflower Volcano (Vegetables Au Gratin)

This is one of my favorite recipes. It earned me the 1st Prize and my first prize when I was still in my teens. This dish is most comforting to me. Serve hot with dinner rolls and pasta, or enjoy it with anything - rice, naan, tortillas, etc.

Step: 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Step: 2

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly pour in milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Simmer until sauce is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in processed cheese, heavy cream, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and Italian seasoning.

Step: 3

Prick whole cauliflower in several places with a fork. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add cauliflower and cook, uncovered, until slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Drain.

Step: 4

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion; cook and stir until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potato, carrot, red bell peppers, peas, and green beans. Season with salt. Increase heat to high and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables start to release their moisture, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns.

Step: 5

Transfer vegetables to prepared baking dish. Place whole cauliflower in the center. Pour some sauce over cauliflower; fold remaining sauce in with vegetables. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Scatter Parmesan cheese on top. Sprinkle remaining 2 teaspoons peppercorns over cheese.

Step: 6

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown on top, about 20 minutes.

Per Serving: 371 calories; protein 16.6g; carbohydrates 28.3g; fat 22.1g; cholesterol 67.3mg; sodium 657.9mg.

One of most obvious way to pick a side dish is to look at your main dish (pasta, chicken, seared tofu) and choose more different. When you’re cooking pasta, go for a simple vegetable . Making steak? Go for more light. If you’re want to cooking stir-fry with rice, it must not a good idea to adjust with make a rice salad.

One make sure is also can make to cooking method . You don’t want to overcommit your oven by making to do list three dishes at once in there, or be rounding four pans on the cooking items . But often you can make a dish do more often .