Luxurious broccoli 'n cheese
| Recipe By: | Jane-Anne Hobbs |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Cooking Time: | 25 minutes |
| Prep Time: | 25 minutes |
Ingredients
- 1/2 head broccoli, rinsed, cut into small florets and blanched
- 400 g gammon steak
- 250 ml sunflower oil
- 4 Tbsp fresh lemon leaves
- 125ml breadcrumbs, two days old
- 80 g parmesan, finely grated
- paprika or cayenne pepper, for dusting
- 90 g Butter
- 90 ml flour
- 1 litre cold milk
- 500 ml cheddar cheese, grated
- 4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 125ml fresh Ayrshire cream
- a quarter of a nutmeg, finely grated (or ground nutmeg)
- hadnful fresh parsley, finely chopped
- salt
- black pepper, milled
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Cooking Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add a handful of ice cubes.
- Cut the broccoli 'trunks' into 1-cm-thick slices. Throw these into a pot of rapidly boiling salted water, and two minutes later add the remaining broccoli, broken into florets.
- Cook for 7 minutes, or until just tender, then drain in a colander under a cold running tap. Plunge the broccoli into the bowl of iced water and leave it there for 10 minutes.
- Cut the gammon steaks into small cubes. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the cubes for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they are nicely browned. Drain off any fat, add 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and toss the cubes over the heat until all the juice has evaporated. Set aside.
- To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan and tip in the flour. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring constantly, for a minute, without allowing the flour to brown.
- Pour in the milk, all in one go, and beat energetically with a wire whisk to disperse any lumps. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring constantly. When it is bubbling, thick and smooth, turn down the heat and let it burble gently for 3 minutes.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the grated cheddar, mustard and just enough lemon juice to give it a pleasant zing. Don't add any salt or pepper yet. Cover the surface with a piece of cling film and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, drain the broccoli, pat it dry on a clean tea towel and arrange the pieces in a large baking dish (or in individual dishes).
- Stir the gammon cubes, cream, nutmeg and parsley into the sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. You won't need much salt as the gammon and Cheddar are quite salty in their own right.
- Pour the sauce all over the top of the broccoli and gently prod the pieces so each one is evenly coated.
- Sprinkle the bread crumbs and Parmesan over the top, and dust with a little paprika or cayenne pepper.
- Bake at 180ºC for about 25 minutes, or until the inside is very hot and the topping is golden and crunchy.
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