Looking for a side dish to go with dinner? Try this tasty dish that even the kids will like.
This recipe takes a standard vegetable and makes it awesome with the inclusion of everyone’s favorite, bacon. The entire family will come back for more, and may even learn to like broccoli! It makes a wonderful and tasty addition to any family meal and is simple and easy to make. This recipe will take around 40 minutes from start to finish and these quantities will serve four.
Bacon Broccoli & Cheese Gratin
Ingredients:
- 4 broccoli heads (about 5 cups) – cut into florets
- 4 bacon strips finely chopped
- 1/2 oz butter – softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk (use low-fat, or non-fat to decrease calories)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard – or for a sharper taste use English mustard
- 1 cup sharp cheddar – roughly grated
- 1/2 cup pre-packaged breadcrumbs (non-seasoned)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – grated
Method:
Preheat your oven to 350.
- Cook the broccoli florets in a large sauce pan of boiling water for about 5 minutes until they are tender.
- Drain the broccoli in a colander and place into a baking dish that will hold around six cups.
- While the broccoli is cooking, cook the chopped bacon in a frying pan over medium heat until nice and crispy, then remove from the pan and place on paper towel to drain off the fat.
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the flour, stirring them together for 2 minutes, until the flour has a slightly grainy texture and is well mixed.
- When complete, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the milk and the dijon mustard.
- Place the saucepan back on the heat and whisk the mixture for around 5 minutes, until sauce is boiling and has thickened.
- Again, take the pan off the heat, and stir in half of the sharp cheddar cheese, continuing until the cheese has melted into the mixture and the sauce is of a smooth consistency.
- Cover the broccoli in the baking dish with the the cheese sauce.
- Put the remaining sharp cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, bacon and breadcrumbs in a bowl, mix through thoroughly to combine well and scatter over the broccoli and sauce mixture.
- Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and heated through sufficiently. Serve immediately to accompany your main dish.
Even the kids will love this one, the bacon and cheese sauce just make you want to come back for a second portion. This goes great served alongside either chicken, beef or pork, and will make any family dinner a meal to remember.
