Leftover Cauliflower? Make a Sformato


You know cauliflower is my #1 favorite veg.

I roast a head weekly, sometimes with capers & hot pepper flakes, sometimes not.

We always have leftovers, since it's just the two of us, so I decided on a sformato.


A sformato is a savory custard like pudding. You can make it in a ring mold, a gratin dish or in individual ramekins for a dinner party.

Any vegetable works, especially zucchini and spinach. It's like making a quiche, really.

I used the roasted vegetables, but a traditional Italian sformato uses boiled vegetables.

These are sensational. They make a lovely presentation, and taste good warm or cold.

You can make them the day before, then reheat them in a water bath to loosen them out of the ramekins.

I did not use butter in my recipe, I sprayed the ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.

Here is the original recipe from La Cucina Magazine, if interested........

and here is mine:


Roasted Cauliflower Sformato: (makes 4 small ramekins or 8 x 10 gratin dish)

1/2 head of leftover roasted cauliflower (recipe here)
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
pinch of salt & pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Mash the cooked cauliflower in the bowl until desired consistency (I like mine chunky).

Add the eggs, milk and flour and beat together with the cauliflower.

Add the cheese, s & p, and nutmeg.

Spray 6 oz. ramekins or gratin dish with PAM (or grease with butter), and pour in the mixture.

Place the ramekins in a roasting pan and carefully pour water up to the tops of the ramekins, to create a bain-marie (hot water bath). The water will prevent the mixture from forming into a cake, and will be a custard instead.


Bake in a 350F oven for about 35-40 minutes.

CAREFULLY remove the ramekins from the hot water bath and cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto plates.


It is actually prettier if you leave the darker side up, but then it isn't a pudding, more like a souffle. I'll leave it up to you (or down!).

You can drizzle tomato sauce or pesto on top for some color, but these were perfect on their own!


Great idea for your next dinner party side dish.

xo

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Comments

Kristin Pinyan said…
This sounds awesome! Unfortunately, I've never heard of this thing you call "leftover cauliflower." There's certainly none in our house ;)
Dana said…
Those are gorgeous. Worth roasting a head of cauliflower for just that purpose!
Janet in Phoenix said…
I have just discovered your site and LOVE it! Your recipes are terrific and the photography incredible! I am definitely going to roast a head of cauliflower just to make these for my next dinner party!
Foodiewife said…
Sometimes I feel like a country bunk'in when I look at your recipes. This is totally new to me, and I love this! How vegetarian, and a beautiful presentation! I love cauliflower, too...one of our favorites. That shot of the puffed up product, from the oven, look gorgeous! Must taste this!
Joanne said…
Ooo I somehow never realized that a sformato was a quiche-like treat! I think I was just always too enamored with that Italian "sf" phoneme.
Ciao Chow Linda said…
I adore sformato of any type, but especially cauliflower. I've always pureed the cauliflower, but I like the texture you have here.
This is new to me.... Looks great. I agree, leftover cauliflower is not easy to have.
Bev said…
Oh my! I made these tonight and they were amazing! You clever girl!
Thank you!
xxxxxxxxxxxx even my kids liked them! (shocking!).
I'm with Linda, always pureed it, like yours better and it looks so pretty!