Cauliflower and Mushroom Gougere

This was my first time making a Gougere and it won't be my last. This is not the prettiest looking dish but boy is it delicious!

cauliflower and mushroom gougere

For the gougere the ingredients are:
8 tablespoons of butter (1 stick)
1.25 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
4 ounces gruyere or cheddar cheese, finely diced (I actually used gouda which I had on hand)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and black pepper 

For the filling:
1 small head of cauliflower
7 ounce can of tomatoes
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion chopped (I used leeks instead which I had handy)
4 ounces of mushrooms, halved if large
1 teaspoon thyme

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter a large ovenproof dish. Place 1.25 cups of water in a large saucepan with the 8 tablespoons of butter on high until melted. Remove from heat and add the flour. Beat until smooth. 

2. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. continue beating until thick and glossy. Stir in the cheese and mustard along with salt and pepper to your liking. Lastly spread this mixture in the dish including the sides. This was a messy job and I don't know how professionals make it smooth!

pastry dough

3. Next work on the filling. Cut the cauliflower into florets. 

4. Puree the tomatoes in a blender if large. I actually used a can of finely diced and left as is.

5. Heat oil and butter in a large non stick skillet. Saute onions for 3-4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cauliflower and stir fry for 1 minute. Add tomato and thyme. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

6. Spoon into the center  of the dish. Bake for 40 minutes until the pastry has risen.

Before Baking

Then enjoy! The dough is delicious due to all the fattening butter and cheese. Yum!

Mine did not look quite like the photo in my cookbook:

The pastry of this reminds us of Pizzeria Uno's deep dish pizza crust so their secret must be lots of butter. Next time I will be changing up the filling to something very Italian which I think will be amazing!

I hope this inspired you to try something new in the kitchen!

Thank you for stopping by. ~Val