Broccoli Gratin

OK people! So if any of you decided to try out the Croque Monsieur then you are probably wondering "dear lord what am I going to do with all this bechamel sauce?!" Well I am here to tell you exactly what I think you should do with it! You need to make this broccoli gratin! You will definitely be glad that you did!

Broccoli Gratin
2 cups bechamel sauce
1.5 lbs broccoli
8oz sharp cheddar cheese (the better quality the cheese the better the taste!)
Plain bread crumbs for dusting
Parmesan cheese (approx 1/2 cup, you are just using it to sprinkle on)

First things first, take your cheese out of the fridge an cut it into small cubes. You can grate it if you want but if you don't want to risk losing or knuckle or wasting all that time then cutting it into small cubes will work just as well! Once you get it all cut up nice and small set it off to the side! If it is room temp it will melt easier into your sauce. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 and start to boil some water on the stove. Once you get your broccoli all cut up so you only have the florets (just the tops.) Throw a little bit of salt in the water. Once the sauce comes to a boil throw in your broccoli and set your timer for 2.5 minutes 3 maximum. Trust me on this. You just want the broccoli to get a nice dark green. After three minutes pull it out of the water and drain well. In a sauce pan on the stove heat up your 2 cups of bechamel sauce (if you need the recipe click here) continuing to stir it so you do not burn it. Once your sauce is nice and hot put in the cheese that you cubed. Remove it from the heat and continue to stir until all the cheese melts into your sauce. Once the cheese is all melted into the sauce place your broccoli in a bowl and pour the sauce over the broccoli and coat it all. Once it is all coated pour it into a casserole dish. Dust the top with bread crumbs and then sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until it looks like this...

I had set out some venison steaks (deer meat that we have from the Hubby's fabulous hunting adventures last winter) and the plan was to have mashed potatoes and broccoli gratin, however, every potato I cut into was black in the middle! And I had just bought them! So I was already in the middle of dinner I decided to improvise with a box of broccoli rice! It turned out so yummy anyway!

It went wonderful with a nice Merlot!

How did I not notice that grain of rice on the steak ruining this shot! LOL Oh well! This is a great dish to make to use the rest of your bechamel sauce and a great change from just plain broccoli! MMM MMM good!!