RECIPES

CAULIFLOWER SFORMATO

Souffle of roasted cauliflower, baby spinach puree, grana padano cheese crisp

A “sformato” is a flan made with vegetables, put together with eggs, besciamella and parmesan cheese. A sformato is a useful recipe to have in your possession because it truly a year round dish. While we we with cauliflower for this recipe because it’s what we serve at the restaurant, sformato is also fantastic with a variety of other vegetables. Some of our favorites are green beans, artichokes, spinach, cardoons or a mix of summer ingredients like zucchini, onions, carrots and spring peas. The sformato has remained on our menu since we opened and is a favorite among our regulars.

Ingredients

2 large cauliflower

4 eggs

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

x.v. olive oil

4 whole cloves of garlic

salt

1 cup of breadcrumbs

For the besciamella:

1 qt or 4 cups of milk

3.5 oz or 1/2 cup butter

3 oz or 2/3 cup flour

1 nutmeg

2 tsp salt

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Cut the cauliflowers into small pieces. Wash them well and boil in a them in a stock pot in well-salted water for about 20 minutes, until tender. Set apart in a colander to drain all the water.

Next, start on the besciamella. Put the milk in a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it has reached a boil, turn it off.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan. Once it has melted, turn it off.

Add the flour little by little to the butter and stir with a whisk until you have a smooth paste (a roux).

Combine the roux with the milk and stir.

Grate the nutmeg into your mixture and add salt. Turn the fire back on to a soft boil and keep stirring until the flour is absorbed (about one minute).

In a large pan heat the oil and add the garlic. Take the garlic out when it has a golden brown color.

Add the cauliflower and cook for about 5 minutes, moving them around with a wooden spoon until they break apart. You can use a whisk to break down the trickier big pieces.

10.Choose your mold. The traditional mold is a bundt pan, though you can also use smaller, individual molds. Butter the mold very thoroughly and coat it with the bread crumbs. Discard the excess crumbs.

11. Put the cooked cauliflower in a large bowl. Add the besciamella, parmesan cheese and the eggs, and mix everything thoroughly.

12. Transfer everything into the mold(s) and cook it in the oven for 1 hour at 350°F.

13. Let cool and turn your molds out on a plate.

14. Finish with fresh ground black pepper.