Many cauliflowers are associated with diet and baby food. Apparently, because it is easily absorbed by the body, it contains many vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, PP, as well as magnesium, iron, phosphorus, calcium, cobalt, and iodine.
The composition of cauliflower is an essential amino acid methionine and choline substance. Therefore, this vegetable should be included in your diet for people with diabetes, atherosclerosis, and liver and stomach diseases.
But healthy people are increasingly using this cabbage in their menu. Salads are made from it, the soup is cooked, but it is tasted best of all in the baked form.
Cauliflower casserole: cooking details
- White cauliflower is best for cooking casseroles. But the greenish heads will give the dish a slight bitterness.
- It is also advisable to choose dense heads. Loose cabbages fall apart during cooking.
- Before cooking, remove the stalk, green leaves and clean the polluted places.
- To get rid of insect larvae that may be in inflorescences, head out soaked in cold saline water (40 g of salt are taken for 1 l of water) for half an hour. This technique also helps to keep white cabbage.
- Cabbage head is disassembled into florets.
- They are boiled before baking. To prevent the cabbage from losing its color, inflorescences are dipped in boiling water with salt and boiled for 5 minutes at a low boil.
- To improve the taste of cabbage boiled in milk.
- Cabbage boiled to softness is poured into a colander and cooled.
- For baking, they use cheese, milk sauce, mayonnaise, sour cream, avoiding topping the dish with tomato sauce, as it is not well suited to cauliflower.
Classic cauliflower casserole in the oven
Ingredients:
- eggs - 4 pcs .;
- cauliflower - 1 head;
- milk - 100 ml;
- hard cheese - 200 g;
- butter - 25 g;
- salt - to taste.
Preparation Method
- Water is poured into a saucepan, brought to a boil, and salted.
- Disassemble the head into florets.
- Dip them in boiling water and boil for 5 minutes with a weak boil.
- Throw back in a colander and cool.
- Eggs are broken into a bowl, milk is poured, and salt is added. Beat the mixture with a whisk.
- Cheese is rubbed on a fine grater and poured into a bowl with an egg-milk mixture. Stir.
- The mold is richly oiled. Spread the cauliflower inflorescences with their legs down.
- Pour cheese sauce.
- Put in the oven, heated to 180 °, and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
- Take out of the oven and cut into portions.
Knowing the classic recipe for cauliflower casseroles, any housewife can add new ingredients to it: sausage, mushrooms, meat, vegetables, fish. And in the end, each time there will be a completely different dish that will not leave indifferent even a sophisticated gourmet. Below we offer some more recipes.
Cauliflower casserole with pasta and ham in the oven
You will need:
- cauliflower - 500 grams,
- pasta - 300 grams,
- Cheddar cheese - 200 grams,
- ham - 120 grams,
- wheat flour - 50 grams,
- butter - 50 grams,
- milk - 1 liter,
- olive oil - 1, 5 teaspoons,
- salt - 1 tsp,
- ground black pepper - pinch,
- nutmeg - pinch.
Method of preparation
- Divide the cabbage into florets and wash them thoroughly. To make a casserole, you should use the rest of the cabbage, which must be cut into thin slices.
- Fill the cabbage with water, salt and put on fire. Boil with the lid closed for 9 minutes after boiling.
- Boil the pasta with olive oil.
- Rub the cheese on a coarse grater.
- Put the boiled cauliflower in a baking dish.
- Spread a layer of pasta on top.
- Chop the ham into small squares. Place on pasta.
- Prepare the sauce for this: melt the butter in a saucepan.
- Add flour, whisk with a whisk into a tender mass.
- Add some milk, keep beating until the mass thickens, then pour in the remaining milk.
- Set on fire and bring to a boil.
- Add spices and half the prepared cheese. Constantly stirring, melt the latter and remove the sauce from the heat.
- Pour cabbage, pasta and ham evenly over with sauce.
- Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
- Send to the oven preheated to 180 degrees for half an hour.
Cauliflower and fish casserole in the oven
You will need:
- white fish fillet - 1 kilogram,
- fresh cauliflower - 1 fork,
- onion - 3-4 pieces,
- carrots - 1-2 pieces,
- tomatoes - 1-2 pieces (you can substitute tomato paste),
- milk - 150 ml,
- egg - 1 piece,
- hard cheese - 200 grams,
- vegetable oil - for frying.
Method of preparation
- Peel the carrots, grate them on a coarse grater.
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Fry carrots and onions in vegetable oil until golden brown.
- Spread the vegetable mass in an even layer on the bottom of the baking dish.
- Cut the fish into small pieces. Put a thick layer on the onions with carrots.
- Salt, pepper and send to the oven heated to 190 degrees for a quarter of an hour.
- Divide the cauliflower into florets, rinse them thoroughly. Boil in lightly salted water. After cut into smaller slices and lay on the fish.
- In a separate bowl, mix the milk and the egg. Add salt and pepper, as well as tomato paste, if you decide to use it for cooking casseroles.
- Pour the sauce over the casserole.
- On top, if you haven't added tomato paste to the sauce, put the sliced tomatoes.
- Sprinkle with grated cheese.
- Bake in the oven for half an hour.
Cauliflower and chestnut casserole in the oven
You will need:
- cauliflower - 1 fork,
- shallots - a few feathers,
- garlic - 4-5 teeth,
- chestnuts - 5 glasses,
- chicken broth - 2 glasses,
- cream - 1 cup,
- dry white wine - 1/4 cup,
- horseradish chopped - 1 tablespoon,
- nutmeg - to taste,
- freshly ground black pepper - to taste,
- butter - 2 tablespoons,
- fresh chopped thyme leaves - 1 tablespoon,
- cheese - 60 grams.
Method of preparation
- Divide the cabbage into stalks and inflorescences. Rinse out.
- Put cabbage blossoms in boiling slightly salted water and boil them for about 5 minutes.
- Flip out in a colander and rinse under cold running water.
- Chop cauliflower stalks.
- Wash shallots and chop finely.
- Peel and chop the garlic.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the cabbage, onion and garlic. Season with spices. Fry until the cabbage turns golden brown.
- Pour in chicken broth, cream and wine. Boil, stirring constantly, until the volume of the liquid is halved.
- Add horseradish, pepper and nutmeg. Stir.
- Grind the mass in a blender.
- Put thyme.
- Split each chestnut in half.
- Combine chestnuts and cabbage blossoms. Put in a baking dish.
- Pour the cooked mashed potatoes. Mix gently.
- Sprinkle with grated cheese.
- Bake in the oven preheated to 200 degrees for about half an hour.
