The Moroccan carrots at Christmas were a great success. Everyone liked them so much that they kept all the leftovers, which wasn’t such a bad deal since I got sent home with turkey and sweet potatoes – and a big container of goodies for the dogs, including the giblets, which my neighbors actually simmered for them. (You may guess that my dogs are spoiled, but I really do try to keep them on a reasonably lean diet. It’s not good for a 125 lb. dog who is 94 years old in dog years to get fat.)
The second dish I made was a gorgonzola and broccoli casserole that could also be made ahead and baked the next day. This is a Sunset recipe that I lightened up by using low fat ingredients to substitute for the full fat ingredients in the original recipe. I shaved 5 grams of fat/serving just by using non-fat milk and reduced fat cheeses. By the way, if you can’t find reduced fat gorgonzola, you can use reduced fat blue cheese, which is pretty widely available.
I actually was in such a hurry to bring my goodies down to my neighbor’s in time, that I forgot to take a picture of the beautiful casserole, fresh out of the oven with its golden crumb topping. Too much time soaking in the giant bubble tub, I guess. So the only photo is of a plate of leftover casserole, which doesn’t look as good, but tastes delicious.
Gorgonzola Broccoli Casserole
3 pounds broccoli
1/4 cup (1/8 lb.) butter, plus 1 tablespoon melted butter for topping
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups non-fat milk
6 ounces reduced fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 cup crumbled reduced fat gorgonzola or other reduced fat blue cheese
2 cups 1/2-inch cubes of French or other firm white bread
If you are not making this ahead, preheat oven to 350°. In a 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat, bring about 3 quarts water to a boil. Rinse broccoli and trim off and discard tough stem ends (I used broccoli crowns, so there was very little stalk). Cut broccoli into 1-inch pieces. Add to boiling water and cook just until barely tender when pierced, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Rinse and dry pan you cooked the broccoli in. Add 1/4 cup butter to pan and melt over medium heat. Stir in flour and salt, whisking until smoothly blended. Cook until bubbly, about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and whisk over medium-high heat until mixture is boiling and thickened, about 3 minutes. Add cream cheese and gorgonzola or blue cheese; whisk until smoothly blended. Stir in broccoli. Pour into a shallow 2 1/2- to 3-quart casserole dish (I used my 10 x 13 ceramic baking pan that I use to make lasagna.) If you are making this ahead, you can put this in the refrigerator at this point and finish it up the next day.
In a blender or food processor, whirl bread cubes into coarse crumbs. You should have about 1 1/3 cups. In a small bowl, mix crumbs with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Sprinkle evenly over broccoli mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 until casserole is hot in the center and crumbs are golden, 20 to 30 minutes. Makes 12 servings at about 6.5 grams of fat/serving.
Tagged: blue cheese, broccoli, casserole