Spaghetti Squash Gratin with Cauliflower Béchamel
Spaghetti Squash Gratin with Cauliflower Béchamel is a farm fresh twist on comfort food. Make this dish for your family on a chilly night, or a bring this crowd-pleaser to your next holiday get-together!
Ingredients:
4 C Spaghetti squash – roasted, flesh separated from skin
2 C Cavolo Nero kale – chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 C Butternut squash – roasted, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 C Cippolini onions – roasted, cut in fours
1 1/2 t Garlic – minced
1 pinch Red pepper flakes
1 T Olive oil
4 C Cauliflower Béchamel
1/2 C Bread crumbs – toasted
1/2 C Fontina cheese
1/4 C Parmesan cheese – grated
Salt and Pepper to taste
CAULIFLOWER BÉCHAMEL
Ingredients
4 C Cauliflower florets – raw
2 C Leeks – chopped, cut and cleaned
2 cloves Garlic
6 C Corn stock, vegetable stock, or water
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 C Parmesan cheese – freshly grated
Directions:
- Spaghetti Squash Gratin
- Directions
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large saute pan, on medium heat add olive oil, add garlic, pepper flake, onions, butternut squash, kale and cook for about a minute, until kale softens. Place on a sheet pan and let cool.
- 2. Place spaghetti squash in a bowl and toss to separate strands. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Add kale mixture and toss together.
- 3. Add cauliflower bechamel and toss to incorporate together.
- 4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- 5. Once the mixture has been completely incorporated, separate the mixture into 4 different oven proof casserole pans.
- 6. Add the fontina cheese, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs to the top of the casserole dish and place on a half sheet pan.
- 7. Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake until mixture is bubbling, cheese is browning and bread crumbs are brown.
- 8. Garnish with chopped Italian Parsley.
- 9. Serve Immediately.
- For an entrée, this dish is paired nicely with an arugula and cherry tomato salad tossed in a Dijon red wine vinaigrette.
- ROAST SPAGHETTI SQUASH
- Split spaghetti squash, scrape seeds out of half, wrap with foil and place on a sheet pan in a preheated 350 degree oven and roast until soft–about 40 minutes.
- Remove from oven and remove from foil and let cool before scraping spaghetti squash out of the shell.
- ROAST BUTTERNUT SQUASH CUBES
- Peel butternut squash, and slice and split lengthwise. Scrape out seeds and cut into half circles about an inch thick. Then proceed to cut into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes.
- Put cubes into bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper.
- Place on parchment paper covered sheet pan and place in preheated 350 degree oven and roast until soft and turning lightly brown.
- Remove from pan and let cool.
- ROAST CIPOLLINI ONIONS
- Ingredients
- 16 cipollini onions
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup Vegetable stock (can be chicken or pork stock, for the dinner, we were trying to create dishes which could also be assembled for vegetarians)
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- Salt and fresh ground pepper
- Procedure
- Peel onions, sauté in a pan with oil, salt, pepper, rosemary sprigs.
- Deglaze the pan with some white wine and place in 350 degree oven and roast until caramelized. Will be golden brown and tender when pierced with a fork.
- CAULIFLOWER BÉCHAMEL
- Directions
- To a medium size saucepan, add cauliflower florets, chopped leeks, garlic and stock.
- Bring contents to a rolling boil, then drop to a slow simmer.
- Allow to cook for 45 minutes until cauliflower florets and leeks are completely soft and cooked through.
- Strain the contents of the saucepan, reserving about 2 cups of the cooking liquid for later.
- In a food processor, blend the cooked cauliflower, leeks and garlic until a puree is formed, slowly adding some of the reserved cooking liquid until you get a creamy and slightly thick consistency.
- Add the grated parmesan cheese to the mix while you are blending it.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- The puree should be like a creamy cheese sauce.
