Cauliflower Gratin

Name: Cauliflower Gratin
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons, unsalted butter, softened; 4 slices, white sandwich bread with crusts, each slice torn into quarters; 1/4 teaspoon, table salt; 1/8 teaspoon, ground black pepper; , table salt; 1 large head, cauliflower (about 3 pounds), trimmed into 3/4-inch florets (see illustrations, below); 2 tablespoons, unsalted butter; 1 , medium shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons); 1 clove, garlic, minced; 1 tablespoon, unbleached all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 cups, heavy cream; pinch, fresh ground nutmeg; pinch, cayenne pepper; 1/8 teaspoon, ground black pepper; 1 teaspoon, minced fresh thyme leaves; 1/2 cup, grated Parmesan cheese (1 ounce), plus 2 tablespoons

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated March/April 2002

Poorly made cauliflower gratin is a gruesome merger of floury sauce and mealy cauliflower sitting under a damp carpet of bread crumbs. Here is our take on how to do it right.

SERVES6

TIME1¼ hours

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

In developing a cauliflower gratin recipe, our goal was to marry tender yet toothsome cauliflower florets with a lightly thickened sauce, then to top it all off with buttery, crisp crumbs. We par-cooked the florets before adding them to the...

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