Description
Savory cheesy broccoli bake delight brings comfort and warmth to dinner tables across homes. Home cooks will appreciate its simple preparation and rich, satisfying flavors you can enjoy with family.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1.5 lbs (680 g) broccoli crowns or florets
- 16 oz (454 g) Alfredo sauce
- 4 oz (113 g) low-moisture mozzarella cheese, divided
- ½ cup (120 ml) whole or 2% milk, or water
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ½ oz (14 g) Parmesan cheese (about 2 tbsps grated)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
Instructions
- Preparation: Ignite the oven to 400°F and lavishly butter a 2-quart baking dish, strategically placing it on a baking sheet to capture potential culinary overflow.
- Ingredient Transformation: Deconstruct broccoli into delicate florets, eliminating fibrous stems, and finely chop the yellow onion to ensure harmonious flavor integration.
- Cheese Preparation: Grate mozzarella and Parmesan using varied techniques to create a diverse cheese landscape with contrasting textures.
- Flavor Foundation: In a spacious skillet, melt butter over medium heat, introducing onions and aromatic seasonings. Sauté until onions become translucent and emit a tantalizing fragrance, roughly 4-5 minutes.
- Sauce Creation: Infuse Alfredo sauce with liquid and half the mozzarella, gently simmering until the cheese dissolves into a velvety, uniform base.
- Broccoli Fusion: Envelop broccoli florets in the luxurious sauce, ensuring complete and even coating of each verdant morsel.
- Layering: Elegantly transfer the sauced broccoli into the prepared baking dish, creating a uniform distribution.
- Cheese Crown: Lavishly scatter remaining mozzarella and the entire Parmesan quantity, crafting a golden, crisp cheese canopy.
- Baking Finale: Roast in the preheated oven until broccoli reaches tender perfection and the cheese topping metamorphoses into a bubbling, bronzed masterpiece, approximately 25-30 minutes.
- Resting Period: Allow the dish to settle for 8-10 minutes, permitting sauce consolidation and flavor harmonization before serving.
Notes
- Optimize Cheese Texture: Grate mozzarella and Parmesan using different grater sizes for a complex, layered cheese experience with varied melting properties.
- Prevent Soggy Results: Pat broccoli florets dry before mixing with sauce to maintain crispness and prevent excess moisture from diluting the creamy base.
- Temperature Control: Let the dish rest 8-10 minutes post-baking to allow sauce to set and flavors to intensify, ensuring a more cohesive and flavorful bite.
- Customize Seasoning: Experiment with herbs like thyme or rosemary to elevate the basic recipe, adding depth and personal flair to the classic cheesy broccoli bake.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: Dinner, Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 7
- Calories: 230
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg