Creamy Swiss Cheese Cauliflower Ala Lea Ann

After our very positive experience with her cheesy microwave cauliflower, I always look forward to trying Chef Lea Ann’s cauliflower recipes like this latest one on her Cooking On The Ranch blog.  I followed the ingredients list with a couple of changes but changed the cooking method by using two cooking vessels.  You can see the original recipe by clicking on the  link and see more of her pics like this one.

Creamy Swiss Cheese Cauliflower – Adapted from Cooking On The Ranch

Ingredients:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

4 cloves garlic. minced

4 oz. prosciutto chopped

1 large head cauliflower divided into florets

2 tbsp. all purpose flour

1½ cups heavy cream or whipping cream

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup frozen peas

1½ cups shredded Guggisburg Baby Swiss Cheese

½ cup parsley chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat stove top. When the butter becomes bubbly, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the prosciutto and sauté 2 minutes.

Add the cauliflower florets, cover the pan, and cook just until they begin to lose their crispness, stirring a few times.

Remove the florets to the baking dish.

Add the flour to the pan and stir constantly for 1 minute. Add the cream and the peas. Blend well and cook until the sauce thickens.  Season with the cayenne, salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the cauliflower in the baking dish (or add the florets back to the skillet) and mix well to coat the florets.

Sprinkle with cheese and parsley and bake uncovered until top is lightly browned and the mixture is bubbly. About 30 minutes.

Notes:

The original recipe calls for doing everything in one pan but I was not comfortable using our baking dishes on the cooktop and I thought the sauce would be easier to make without the cauliflower in the pan so after cooking it, I removed it to the dish while I made the sauce then returned it to the pan.

I stacked the prosciutto and cut into ½“ cubes and I spent more time trying to separate them in the pan than I would have spent cutting each individual slice.

My amount of cauliflower really filled the skillet making it hard to turn the florets so I covered the pan to steam them but still turned them a few times.

I thought it was totally delicious and a definite make again recipe.  The cauliflower was the perfect firmness for most people after the 30 minute bake – I prefer mine very done.  While I like cauliflower, it’s not something I will buy then go in search of a recipe but after two big winners, I’m going to make every cauliflower dish posted by Chef Lea Ann.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

11/15/20 meal date