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Inside The Kitchen: Cauliflower-Leek Puree

I’ve been obsessing over cauliflower as of late. Don’t ask me why, but I am on a mission to try to find ways to make side dishes my kids will eat using a variety of vegetables. I am so limited – I eat like a 4 year old and I really don’t want my kids to grow up with my bad habits. So I am learning to like alongside with them. 🙂

I found this recipe for Cauliflower-Leek Puree inside a Rachael Ray magazine and MAN was it tasty! Dieters… please ignore this post.

I also want to point out that my local market sells cauliflower pre-chopped. So, I bought it like that. Hey! If I can save a few minutes of aggravation in the kitchen, I’m all for it.

* 2 heads cauliflower (about 3 1/2 pounds), coarsely chopped
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 1 leek, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
* 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

  • In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the cauliflower until very soft, 12 to 15 minutes; drain.

  • Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, melt 3 1/2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the leek and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leek is translucent and very soft, about 8 minutes.

  • Using a food processor and working in batches, puree the cauliflower and the leek mixture with the cream. — This is what you were supposed to do but I don’t have a food processor…. so first I combined the ingredients and added the cream.

  • THEN I mashed everything to a pulpy form.

  • AND used my MAGIC BULLET to puree everything in batches. LOL! It was insane – but not hard to do. I kept thinking to myself… why don’t I have a food processor?

  • In a small skillet, melt the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the panko and toast, tossing, until golden.

  • Top the puree with the toasted panko and the parsley. (I don’t like parsley – do I didn’t use it).

This recipe is CREAMY and RICH – perfect for Thanksgiving if you want to stay away from too many potatoes. 🙂 My husband really enjoyed the meal – as did I.

To see more of my ‘Inside the Kitchen’ recipes, click here.

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