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Brown Butter Broccoli Gratin Recipe

Prep Time1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time2 hours
Calories:

Ingredients

  • 3-½ cups half and half
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper
  • About 3 pounds broccoli
  • cup Brown Butter divided in half (Here's How To Brown Butter!)
  • 3 cups finely sliced brown onion
  • cup bread crumbs
  • 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups grated Gruyère cheese

Instructions

  • In a large sauce pot, combine the half and half with the garlic and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then immediately reduce to a low simmer. Simmer until the half and half has reduced by one forth, about 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove, add the salt and white pepper. Set aside to cool.
  • Prepare the broccoli by cutting the stalks off of the floweretes, right up to the base. Then use a vegetable peeler to remove just the outer layer off the stalks, and cut the very tough portion off of the bottom.
  • Sprinkle the broccoli lightly with salt and put a steamer into a pot with the water level just below it.  Over high heat, bring the water to a boil and then add the broccoli to the rack and cover.  Steam until just until is starts to become tender, about 3 minutes.  (We don't want to cook it all of the way at this point.)
  • Let the broccoli cool a bit and then slice the stalks thinly, about ¼-inch, placing them directly into the prepared half and half mixture as you go. You should ideally have about 5 cups of sliced stalks. Then finely chopped the floweretes and place 3 cups of them in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
  • Melt half of the brown butter in a medium-sized sauté pan, over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until they're soft and beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
  • Add the bread crumbs and ½ cup of the Parmesan cheese to the chopped broccoli floweretes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and set all the prepared ingredients together to assemble the gratin.
  • Without wiping them off, use a slotted spoon to remove about a third of the sliced broccoli stalks from the half and half mixture, layering them on the bottom of a 9 X 13 X 2-inch baking pan.
  • Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
  • Sprinkle ½ cup of the Gruyère, ¼ cup of the Parmesan, and one third of the onions over the broccoli.
  • Drizzle about ½ cup of the half and half mixture (just the liquid) over the onions.
  • Repeat steps 1 through 4.
  • Add a third and final layer of the broccoli stalks, followed by ½ cup of the Gruyère cheese, the remaining onions and all of the broccoli floweretes mixture.
  • Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and the last of the Gruyère.
  • Melt the remaining half of the brown butter and drizzle it over the entire surface of the gratin.
  • Drizzle the remaining half and half mixture over the gratin, only until you see it coming up along the edges a tiny bit. (If necessary, don't use all of it.)
  • Place the gratin in the oven, uncovered, and bake until it's sizzling along the sides and golden brown, about 45 minutes.
  • Let the gratin rest at room temperature for at least an hour before cutting.