Broccoli Gratin

This broccoli gratin makes an easy side dish for weeknights; stir a protein through it and it becomes a full meal.

It is a substantial dish, rich in flavour and in nourishment, and it can be varied in any number of equally delicious, equally wholesome ways — broccoli itself is packed with vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants, including vitamin C, and is just as good cooked as raw.

You can add meat — bacon, chicken, turkey, chopped cutlets, beef meatballs — vegetables like leeks, courgettes, carrots, parsnips, spinach or cauliflower, or even tofu.

For variety, you can also reach for wheat breadcrumbs or panko for extra crunch, ginger, red chilli flakes, a béchamel, another cheese — Cheddar, mozzarella, blue, Gruyère — or nuts.

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What you need to make this broccoli gratin:

Broccoli — the star of the dish, blanched and then baked; add a protein and it turns this gratin into a full meal.
Mushrooms and onions — sautéed with the garlic, they add softness and a flavour base to the gratin.
Garlic — it flavours the whole pan of onions and mushrooms.
Butter and olive oil — used together to sauté the vegetables, they add fat and flavour without either one taking over.
Flour and cornflour — dissolved in the water, they bind everything together so the gratin holds its shape coming out of the oven.
Parmesan — scattered on top, it's what gratinates and forms the golden crust.
Cumin and Italian seasoning — they season the whole dish, so the broccoli doesn't just taste of steam.
Salt and pepper — adjust to taste.

Why this broccoli gratin must be on your menu!

Quick for a weeknight: it comes together and bakes in about an hour.
Add a protein and it becomes a full meal without any extra effort.
Packed with nutrients: broccoli is loaded with vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants, including vitamin C.
A treat you don't have to feel guilty about.
Endlessly customizable: a protein, a different vegetable, another cheese — the base adapts to whatever you have on hand.
A way to never quite get tired of the same gratin.
A texture that holds up: a quick dip in an ice bath stops the broccoli cooking dead in its tracks.
It then goes back into the oven without falling apart, for a gratin that keeps its body.

Broccoli Gratin

Blanched broccoli tossed with mushrooms and onions, bound with cornflour and gratinated with Parmesan.

Prep 25 min

Cook 35 min

Total time 1 h

Course: Sides Cuisine: French Keyword: Broccoli gratin Calories:

Ingredients

Servings: 6 servings

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190 °C (374 °F).
Cut the broccoli in half. Prepare a large bowl of iced water.
Put the broccoli into a large pot of salted water. Bring to the boil and blanch for about 7 minutes.
Lift the broccoli out at once and transfer it to the cold bowl to stop the cooking. Set aside.
Slice the mushrooms. Chop the garlic. Slice the onions into rounds.
In a large hot pan, melt the butter with a thread of olive oil. Add the onions, garlic and mushrooms, the salt, pepper and spices. Cook until tender, stirring now and then.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the cornflour, flour and water until fully dissolved.
Add this flour mixture and the broccoli to the pan. Stir well until everything is coated.
Scatter over the Parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes, then put under the grill for 4 minutes to brown.

Nutrition (per serving)

Tips

Prepare the ice bath before blanching, not after: the broccoli will not wait.
Seven minutes is enough for blanching; it finishes cooking in the oven.
Dissolve the cornflour and flour thoroughly in cold water before pouring them in, or you will get lumps.
The 4 minutes under the grill are what make the crust: watch them closely.
With a protein added, the gratin becomes a complete meal.

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