Dinner will never be the same when you make this Extra Cheesy Brussels Sprout Gratin. You’ll love all this cheesy goodness!
Post from 11/20/12, Pictures Updated 11/15/18
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I was recently going through old cooking magazines to organize them into a usefully system. Since a pile of cut up recipes from magazines tossed in a box isn’t much of a system…. no?
Well, my system is still getting tweaked but at least I can more easily find some fun things to try. In that process, I dug up recipes from December ’11 from Martha Stewart Living and one of the things that jumped out of me was the Smokey Brussels Sprout Gratin. Cheese! Brussels Sprouts! More Cheese! Winner!!!!
While the original recipe sounds amazing, I made some adjustments to the original recipe to better suit our tastes.
It called for smoked Gouda to be used in the Bechamel, but I don’t like smoked cheeses. I don’t like very smoky things in general and a smoked cheese is pretty low on my list. So, I just used a Gruyere & Cheddar blend (from Trader Joe’s!) in the Bechamel instead. You can also use Gouda or a Fontina in the Bechamel and top it off with a coarsely grated Parmesan. Just work with what you have and like.
Also, I just about doubled the amount of cheese. What!?! I wanted cheesy Brussels sprouts so I made CHEESY Brussels sprouts. I really like love Brussels sprouts so this was not about masking their flavor but making a really cheesy dish. And I was really successful in that!
The key to this dish is the Bechamel. A Bechamel is a classic that is known as it being a ‘mother sauce’ in French cooking. It’s a white sauce made with a roux (butter and flour) and milk. It’s not difficult to make, it just takes some babying so you don’t burn the roux or the sauce.
Once the sauce is thickened, turn off the heat, and then add the cheese to make it extra awesome.
The end result is a pretty quick dish that you can whip together for a Sunday dinner or for a holiday.
And it’s great that you can do a lot of prep work in advance for this, when you are already busy juggling a holiday meal. Cut the Brussels Sprouts ahead of time. You can even make the Bechamel in advance and then stored in an air tight container, for up to 4 days. Then you would just need to cook the sprouts until they are tender and mix the sauce over them, and cook them in the oven. I’m all for helpful time management tips and trick!
Get ready to dig into this Extra Cheesy Brussels Sprout Gratin! You’re gonna love it!!
Extra Cheesy Brussels Sprout Gratin
Dinner will never be the same when you make this Extra Cheesy Brussels Sprout Gratin. You'll love all this cheesy goodness!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 6 ounces of freshly grated Gouda
- 1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 8 cup (8x12) baking dish.
- Rinse and cut the bottoms off all the brussels sprouts. Depending on the size of the brussels sprout halve or quarter it. Set aside.
- To make the Bechamel, in a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk to blend the butter and flour together while the mixtures start to bubbles slightly but has not started to brown, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and the salt and pepper. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until the Bechamel is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add the cheese and stir until incorporated.
- While the Bechamel is cooking, cook the brussels spouts in a pot of boiling salted water. Cook until tender, when pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain and set aside.
- To assemble the gratin, gently mix the Bechamel and brussels sprouts together. Top off with the rest of the cheese and an extra sprinkling of salt and pepper.
- Bake, uncovered, until bubbling and golden, about 25-30 minutes.
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Naughty!
This looks absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! Love the blog.