This is a recipe that I don't ever remember Grandma making. In fact, casserole wasn't a frequently-used word in our family. It was called a hotdish - and it usually began by browning a pound or two of ground beef. The hotdish Grandma made the most was a tomato-based macaroni entree toward which I hold no particular fond feelings. I suppose I ate it enough in the first 18 years of my life to consider it boring to this day.
But this casserole seems more like comfort food, complete with creamy white sauce and a buttered bread crumb topping. Grandma wrote it on the back of the label from a can of Libby's 100% orange-grapefruit juice from concentrate:
I can't quite bring myself to buy canned cream-of-anything soup. It's easy to make, and the homemade version is a simple way to take any recipe to the next level. If you're short on time and want to skip the homemade sauce, then grab a can of cream of celery soup to substitute for the first six ingredients below. But try it this way first. You’ll be glad you did.
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces and steamed just till tender
1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham (optional)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Melt butter in a saucepan on medium low. Add celery and onion and saute about five minutes. Stir in the flour and then the milk. Add broth and mix well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about two minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Place steamed cauliflower in a 1.5 quart baking dish. (I used a glass 6-inch by 10-inch pan and that worked well.) Layer ham (if using) and then the white sauce you just made. Combine the bread crumbs, olive oil and grated Parmesan in a small bowl. Mix and then sprinkle on top of the sauce. Bake in a 375 degree oven until the sauce bubbles and the topping is lightly browned, about 25 to 35 minutes.
I skipped the shredded cheddar cheese in the sauce both times I made it. I didn't think was necessary. Adding grated Parmesan in the topping seemed like a better way to enhance the flavor. I made this once with ham and once without. I liked it both ways, and so did my husband. The boys sampled it both times but never helped themselves to seconds.
The time it takes to prepare this casserole is the one down side. But I am considering a shortcut I've seen Jacques Pépin suggest for another baked dish with a breadcrumb topping: make the entire dish on the stove top and sprinkle each serving with toasted breadcrumbs. Here it would just mean stirring the steamed cauliflower into the white sauce and heating through. Eliminating the thirty minutes of baking time might mean that I'd make this more often.