We’ll utilize a different, far more delectable method of delivering truffles in this otherwise modest truffle cauliflower gratin: truffled Pecorino cheese. I believe that you may have a finer, more authentic truffle flavor for less than $10 worth of cheese. By the way, if you are aware that this cheese is actually made with fake truffle oil, keep it to yourself and don’t ruin it for me.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons butter, divided
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 5 ounces truffled pecorino cheese, grated, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 large head cauliflower, cored and separated into florets
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter.
- Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk flour into butter; cook and stir until raw flour taste cooks off, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Gradually whisk milk into flour mixture. Increase heat to medium-high; cook and stir until mixture thickens and comes to a simmer, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir truffled pecorino cheese, salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg into milk mixture until cheese sauce thickens.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add cauliflower and cook until slightly tender, about 6 minutes. Drain and transfer cauliflower to the prepared baking dish.
- Spread cheese sauce evenly over cauliflower. Dust with bread crumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Bake in the preheated oven until browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh chives.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 241 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 12 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 463 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
PHENOMENAL! This was hands down a great hit at Christmas dinner. I didn’t have the time to look for the truffle Pecorino cheese but I used regular Pecorino with a about a tsp of truffle oil. I did however, found truffle cheddar cheese that I used a bit grated in with the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and the bread crumbs. I made it the day before (without baking) and completed the baking for 30 minutes before serving the next day. Cauliflower was perfect and the taste was spot on. I had the perfect amount of truffle taste. This is going to be added to every Christmas dinner and probably in between.
Very tasty. Next time I’m going to try adding a package of buttermilk ranch dressing. Great way to get kids to eat their veggies.
This was very good!!
I subbed half olive oil to cut down on the butter. Also I microwaved the flowerets for 4 minutes instead of pre steaming cauliflower. I used Locatelli romano cheese. Yum
Great! For the large head of cauliflower, I think the Philippines has a different definition of large. For one thing, the cauliflower is sold with a bunch of green stallks on it that need to be cropped off, which also greatly distorts the usable weight. In the end, I needed a total of about 1.4 kg of cauliflower.
Amazing dish!!! Used truffle oil instead of truffled cheese, but the result was amazing! My new top cauliflower recipe hands down!
Very rich and decadent. Probably won’t be making this often because of the cholesterol, etc. but I just had to try it. I couldn’t find the cheese with the truffle in it so I drizzled truffle oil on top instead of OO. Pretty strong. I can taste it. I don’t think my hubby knew what it was. I am on a mission to find the cheese with the truffle in it. I did not use garlic powder as other people did.
It was delicious! Added a bit more Cayenne & Nutmeg, but didn’t stray far from the recipe.
It was good, but I will cut the amount of garlic powder to 1/8 t and the onion powder to 1/4 t and add more cheese
Definitely watch the video before making this, it’s super helpful for getting the correct texture for your sauce. We couldn’t find truffle pecorino cheese and ended up buying truffle sottocenere, which the guy at Whole Foods said would be a good substitute. It definitely wasn’t – the cheese melted into an oily mess that tasted ok but looked unappealing. In general, substituting a soft cheese for the pecorino is probably a bad idea. Aside from that, I sauteed 4 shallots and 4 cloves of garlic, and added them to the sauce with a few teaspoons of truffle oil. Those modifications were really necessary, because even after all that, it was still pretty bland. Next time I’d add more garlic/shallots, definitely pre-order the correct cheese, and probably double or triple the cayenne and nutmeg. Rating it 4 stars because the bones of the recipe are good and can tolerate a lot of modification.
I have made this several times because it is so delicious and my husband loves it! It is worth the time and effort it takes to make it.
Pretty nice way to do cauliflower. I didn’t have the truffle cheese, so I used gruyere. But I probably won’t make this again – it’s very rich and high in fat. Sigh.
I wasn’t able to find the truffled percorino so I had to use regular pecorino and added a 1/4 tsp of white truffle oil I had. I’m sure this would taste even better with the right cheese, but as it was, it was delicious! I only had a medium cauliflower, so I halved the recipe in a 9×9 dish. For a 9×12, I believe I need to get 2 cauliflowers. Thanks again Chef John!
Another excellent dish by Chef John. The flavor profile is off the chart with much help from the truffled pecorino cheese. The cheese was hard to find. Three large grocery chains did not carry it, and I finally found it at a specialty cheese shop. The recipe was made as written. Next time (which will be soon), plan to boil the cauliflower about half the time (i.e., 3 minutes). May also cut baking time by a few minutes but ramp oven up to broil to brown the top for the last couple of minutes. We prefer the cauliflower to be firmer to the bite. This dish paired extremely well with grilled beef.
I followed the recipe exactly. Over cooked the cauliflower a bit, but it was still delicious.
Slammin!
Yum! I added sautéed onions, mushrooms, and a splash of wine. Loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Made this for lunch and it was delicious.
not sure how much cauliflower to use?
This is a much make again and again….. The only change I did was I used Truffle oil instead of olive oil. Walmart also has truffle cheese which I was surprised to find. I didn’t use the salt in the water instead I sprinkled Pink Sea Salt . Other then that, wonderful.
I didn’t have the cheese that was in the recipe so had to use what I had, old cheddar. It still was great but will try to find the cheese for the next time.