Broccoli Casserole

This was the side dish I made to take to Thanksgiving but it would be just as lovely as a vegetarian meal in it's own right with a bit of green salad.

I was originally going to make a Paula Deen recipe which used a jar of mayonnaise and a tin of cream of mushroom soup, but given that my "thing" is to make food from scratch, it didn't sit quite right. So I started researching broccoli casserole recipes from scratch and there are a fair few out there. I finally settled on this one.

Broccoli Casserole (from Kristine's Kitchen)

(Serves 8)

1kg broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces 

5 tbsp butter, divided

100g finely chopped mushrooms

4 tbsp flour

250ml milk

125ml single cream

salt and pepper

125g Greek yogurt

1 large onion, chopped

150g cheddar cheese, grated

115g breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease an ovenproof dish.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 4 mins. Drain, run under the cold tap and drain again well. Place broccoli in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4 mins, stirring occasionally. Transfer the mushrooms to the bowl with the broccoli.

In the same saucepan, melt 4 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth; cook, whisking constantly for 30 secs. Whisk in the milk and cream. Bring to a low simmer and continue to whisk until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, and Greek yogurt.

Pour the sauce over the broccoli and mushrooms. Add the onion, 100g of the cheddar, and 50g of the breadcrumbs. Stir to combine. Transfer to the prepared ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle the rest of the breadcrumbs and cheddar over the casserole.

Bake for 45 mins, until the filling is hot and bubbly. Check after 30 mins and cover with foil if topping is browning too quickly.