Sformato is a molded dish, usually a vegetable of some sort mixed in with a bechamel parmesan cheese sauce that turns into a light and fluffy almost custard like souffle. In this case I used cauliflower, but you could also use zucchini, spinach, asparagus, artichokes, and mushrooms, just to mention a few. The same thing goes with the sauces, the possibilities are endless!
I saw this awhile back on Linda’s blog and wanted to make it then, but never got around to it until recently when I saw it again in the recent issue of La Cucina Italiana magazine. In the magazine they used a ring mold which gave a pretty presentation but I didn’t have one so I just used my 6″ spring form pan which has deep sides, and that worked out very well.
Essentially you cook up your cauliflower then pulse it in a food processor, mix it in with your creamy savory custard sauce, season everything, place it in your mold and bake. The recipe says to boil your cauliflower, drain it, then squeeze out the excess water, I found that roasting it until tender was easier and I didn’t have to squeeze anything out, just make sure you don’t caramelize your veggies. I roasted mine at 375F but I was watching it often by pulling it out and checking for doneness. Here’s the link to the recipe, also before I placed it in the oven I sprinkled parmesan all over the top. I served mine with a light marinara sauce, it was delicious!I hope you give this a try, be creative, you’re going to love it!
Buon Appetito!!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
Looks very interesting! I should try this because I have been looking for vegetables dishes for the holidays.
Thanks for sharing, Marie,
Cheers,
Meldy
This looks perfect! Just love your blog!
Bookmarked!
Made this last night it was fantastic and my boyfriend who dislikes cauliflower ate the whole piece and had no idea. Even better was eating a cold slice from the fridge for a midnight snack 🙂
This looks utterly delightful!
I love cauliflower, what a wonderful way to prepare it! I prefer to buy fresh cauliflower, but when it’s not in season, I bet frozen would be just fine in this recipe (of course, then you’d have to deal with the boiling and draining/squeezing…)
Yep, I’m gonna try this one.
LL
Great idea. My husband likes cauliflower a lot more than I do, so this is a great way for us to eat it in a way we’d both enjoy. This looks like one of those dishes that could be both a meal in itself or a hearty side dish.
Now this a new one for me. It looks so light .
Looks so tasty. Can’t wait to try it.
Mimi
What a great new way to prepare cauliflower. Can’t wait to try it.
Anything with a bechamel parmesan cheese sauce has gotta be good! And always fun to see something prepared in a new way.
Oh wow, I can’t wait to try this. Looks delicious!!
Absolutely gorgeous!
Cauliflower is never top of mind for me because I never know what to make with it. I really like your suggestion of baking it into a custard with parmesan cheese bechamel sauce.
This looks spectacular! Great idea to roast the cauliflower. I’m sure that I will love this!
Oh my, this looks wonderfully delicious. I’m always looking for new ways to prepare cauliflower. Can’t wait to try it.
I recently thought I was being creative when I roasted cauliflower and turned it into a polenta. Your recipe (and Linda’s) is what I call pure genius! This would be perfect for a dinner guest who is vegetarian. The marinara sauce rounds it off perfect, and it’s lovely. This one is bookmarked.
WOW Marie this sounds way to good… YUMMO! Have a great day…
(((HUGS)))
Donna
How original! I might be able to coerce my son into eating it 🙂
That looks perfect and perfectly delicious. I love cauliflower and will look for one at the farmers’ market. I have to figure out how to lighten it up (ff milk, light butter maybe). I love your idea of serving it with a marinara. It’s a main dish!
I can just copy the comment you left on my side and paste it here, because everything YOU make inspires me!!!
This looks so wonderfully delicious! I just recently started getting La Cucina Italiana (a gift from my mother in law!), and I love it!
Looks just fabulous. I don’t have a ring mold but I do have a spring form pan. Wonderful dish!
This is worth buying a ring mold for.
I love cauliflower and will be making this dish!
Marie – Thanks for the shout-out. I don’t know why, but I haven’t made that cauliflower sformato since I posted about it last year. Now I’ve got the yen to do it again after seeing your beautiful version. That golden parmesan crust is just so delicious looking.
Marie, it makes cauliflower look like dessert! Nice idea and presentation. I’ll have to try this soon.