Alexandra Dudley
A bit of a lighter take on traditional creamy gratin, this is all my favourite flavours in one and makes for a really good starter or side dish.
The broccoli gets a head start in the oven first whilst you mix together the Grana Padano and ricotta until creamy and combine a flavourful anchovy spiked chilli mix. Layer it up and sprinkle over lots more Grana Padano before baking until it is sizzling and crisp.
I love to use the Grana Padano Riserva for this. Aged for 24 months, it has a rich, almost nuttiness to it which brings so much flavour to the creamy base.
Ingredients
- 1 kg broccoli, separated into florets with stalk diced into roughly 1cm cubes
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- 120 g finely grated Grana Padano
- 400 g ricotta
- Black pepper
- 2 chilli’s, seeds removed, finely chopped
- 10 anchovies, finely chopped
- Bunch of parsley, leaves finely chopped
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees fan setting.
On a large baking tray, toss the broccoli with a good glug of olive oil and season with salt. Roast for 15 mins until it is charred in places.
In a small bowl, combine the ricotta with the grated Grana Padano, a good pinch of salt and lots of freshly cracked black pepper.
In a separate bowl, combine the finely chopped chilli, anchovies, parsley with a generous glug of olive oil.
Drizzle a glug of oil into a large oven proof dish. Arrange over broccoli, dot over the cheese mix. Spoon over half the parsley mix.
Finish with the remaining Grana Padano. Bake for 10 minutesuntil sizzling and golden.
