Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I don't know about your family, but one dish that is always present on our Thanksgiving table is broccoli casserole. My mother started making this sometime in the 1980's. I know this because the first year she made it my grandfather stopped by the house early in the morning on Thanksgiving as she was preparing it and he asked her "what was the green stuff". He went on to his reward in 1988, so it was some time before 1988, but probably not more than a couple years. Since then, it just isn't Thanksgiving without broccoli casserole. I usually do not make it during the year because it is something to look forward to on Thanksgiving day, but I wanted to experiment with a couple different recipes floating around in my head in hopes of putting together a really spectacular recipe to share with you in advance of the holiday so that you could make it for your Thanksgiving gathering this year. I think I have succeeded. I made one where I used a pound of cottage cheese in the mix. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. This recipe is very good and I hope you will try it.
Ingredients
1 cup Duke's mayonnaise
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup onions, chopped
2 (16 ounce) bags of frozen chopped broccoli
8 ounce block of sharp cheddar cheese
Paprika
Directions
Preheat oven to 350℉. Spray a 9x13 inch glass baking dish with a butter flavored cooking spray.
In a medium glass bowl, whisk together the cream of mushroom soup, mayonnaise, egg, Worcestershire sauce and onion.
Remove bags of broccoli from freezer and use your hands to break it up while still in the bag. Place frozen chopped broccoli into a very large glass or stainless steel mixing bowl. Use a rubber spatula to add the mayonnaise and soup mixture to the frozen broccoli and mix well.
Shred 8 ounce block of sharp cheddar cheese and add shredded cheese to the mix. Stir to combine.
Spread mixture into prepared baking dish and smooth top. Lightly sprinkle top of casserole with paprika. Place dish in preheated oven and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check at 45 minutes and turn dish and cook for an additional 10 - 15 minutes if needed
Let's get started.
Here we have the condensed mushroom soup, mayonnaise, egg, Worcestershire sauce and onions all added to a medium sized glass bowl.
I mixed these ingredients together using a rubber spatula at first. After everything was blended together, I used a large hand-held whisk and fully incorporated all the ingredients.
I used the Giant brand chopped broccoli for this dish. You will need two, 16-ounce bags. As in the directions above, take this out of the freezer and squeeze the bags with your hands. That will break up the broccoli so it is easy to incorporate into the mayonnaise and soup mixture.
Here we have both bags of frozen broccoli in a large glass bowl ready to have the mayonnaise and soup mixture added.
Just pour the mixture on top of the broccoli and use a rubber spatula to mix it all together.
Add the 8 ounces of shredded cheese on top of the mixture and stir it in so that everything is completely mixed together. Buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. Pre-packaged shredded cheese of any kind is altered to keep it from clumping together in the bag while be transported and in the store. You do not want to use that in any dish you are preparing.
Pour the mixture into your prepared 9x13 inch glass baking dish.
A light sprinkling of paprika on top and you are ready to place your casserole into the preheated oven to bake for 45 minutes to an hour.
A little while later, you will have this beautiful casserole to serve your family and guests. You can cover the dish with foil and let it set for about a half-hour in kitchen before you serve.
A nice hearty square on a plain white plate. You could offer a Béarnaise topping if you like, but I enjoy it just on it's own. You will notice the recipe does not call for salt or pepper. The addition of Worcestershire adds very nice flavor to this casserole. By all means, offer the salt and pepper shakers to your guests. I like a very like sprinkling of salt. Sea salt is particularly nice because it is not as salty as regular table salt.
My mother uses broccoli florets in her recipe. My recipe uses chopped broccoli. They are both delicious. I would say that it is a personal decision. You could very well substitute frozen broccoli florets in this recipe. I hope you make this dish for your Thanksgiving celebration this year. It is sure to be a hit!
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