Cauliflower Gratin With Manchego and Almond Sauce

Submitted by ncmysteryshopper

"This outrageously rich sauce, flavored with salty, nutty Manchego, gets poured on sautéed cauliflower and baked until it's golden and bubbling. MAKE AHEAD: The gratin can be prepared through Step 4 and refrigerated overnight. Bring it to room temperature before baking."

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photo by Moor Driver

Ready In:: 1hr
Ingredients:: 13
Serves:: 6

ingredients

³⁄₄ cup half-and-half
¹⁄₂ cup almonds, whole roasted with skin
2 tablespoons almonds, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
³⁄₄ cup manchego cheese, finely shredded (or other mildly nutty semi-aged sheep's or cow's-milk cheese) or 3/4 cup gouda cheese, plus
2 tablespoons manchego cheese, finely shredded or 2 tablespoons gouda cheese
nutmeg, freshly grated
fresh ground pepper
2 lbs cauliflower, cut into 1 1/2-inch florets
1 medium onion, finely chopped
¹⁄₄ teaspoon paprika (Pimenta de la Vera- smoked Spanish paprika)

directions

Preheat the oven to 400°; In a small saucepan, heat the half-and-half until steaming, then transfer it to a food processor or blender; Add the 1/2 cup of whole almonds and process until finely ground; Let stand for 10 minutes; Strain the half-and-half through a fine sieve set over a bowl, pressing on the almonds to extract as much liquid as possible; Discard the ground almonds.
In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter; Add the flour and whisk over moderately high heat for 1 minute; Add the milk and the half-and-half and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, 5 minutes; Remove from the heat; Add 3/4 cup of the Manchego and whisk until melted; Whisk in the nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
In a large skillet, bring 1/2 inch of salted water to a boil; Add the cauliflower, cover and cook over high heat until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes; Drain the cauliflower in a colander; Wipe out the skillet.
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet; Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring until lightly browned, about 5 minutes; Add the cauliflower and cook, stirring until lightly golden, about 2 minutes; Season lightly with salt and pepper; Transfer the cauliflower to a 7-by-10-inch glass or ceramic baking dish and spread the Manchego sauce on top.
Sprinkle the gratin with the remaining cheese, the 2 tablespoons of chopped almonds and the paprika and bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, or until bubbling and browned on top; Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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Reviews

This was a very nice vegetable dish. Lovely combination of flavors. I did use frozen cauliflower florets, thawed and drained. I also did not strain the almonds from the half and half and it was delicious. Served this as a side dish to recipe #61207. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

swissms
I love Manchego, this is very close to what we are doing for Christmas Eve Dinner. I like the detail in the instructions, NcMysteryShopper has done the home work on this one.

Chummers
I made this for Thanksgiving 2006. It was really great. I loved the aroma of the almonds and 1/2 and 1/2. I will definately make this again. Thanks :)

Queen uh Cuisine
Delicious. Best cauliflower cheese I've ever had. I didn't bother to strain the almonds out after processing with the cream mixture, and it made it even thicker and more luxurious. Well done NCMysteryShopper, a great recipe!

Moor Driver
This dish was very yummy. Great way to prepare cauliflower, loved the cheese sauce. Thanks for sharing, made for ZWT3.

Midwest Maven

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

ncmysteryshopper

I live in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina on Butler Mountain. I am a mystery shopper for restaurants and retail establishments. I graduated from UNC-Asheville with a BFA in art (photography). I was just recently married in Costa Rica to KC and his 6 year old son, Ty. Our wedding was perfect and I will cherish the memories forever. Leslie, Mama's Kitchen, sassafrasnanc, Mommy Diva and Chef V attended the wedding with their husbands!! Leslie's daughter Sarah was our flower girl and her hubby Wayne was our talented musician! I had the time of my life!!! <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w3.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/897d027c.pbw" height="360" width="480"> Our family is rounded out with 6 Bengals, 1 Jack Russell Terror named Harley, a ferret named Mason, giant gold fish, a water dragon named Crusoe, a Beautiful Appaloosa/Arabian named Sassy, a stunning Palomino Quarter Horse named Sweet Pea and a gorgeous black Standardbred named Domino! We also have added a Leopard Appaloosa rescue horse to the mix. Her name is Pebbles and she is lovely! <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/thstatenorthcara1.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/artsyfartsya1.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/buttermybutt.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/anotherdayinparadise.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/countrygirla1.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/truelove.gif"> <embed src="http://w3.photobucket.com/widgets/Bucketshow.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="ffffff" width="300" height="300" name="Bucketshow" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="url=http://w3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/cutest of cute/&name=ourcuties"></embed> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/imengageda1.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/love31a.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/someoldnewa1.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/crazyinlovea1.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/homepage/wedding2.gif"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/praying_for_my_bean.gif"> I love Zaar! 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