Lately I’ve been trying some new things with some friends and they are asking for the recipes. I love it when I try something and it is appreciated. So not only will I share this with my friends, but with all of you as well.

It has been bitterly cold here recently, so when I invited some friends over for lunch and cards I wanted to make something hot and hearty. I decided to make a version of my ravioli lasagna and try a side dish I hadn’t made before, broccoli casserole. My friends don’t seem to mind me trying new recipes on them and, thank goodness, this one was a hit.

LESSONS LEARNED MAKING THIS RECIPE:

1. An easy way to prep the broccoli: Most broccoli recipes I looked at called for steaming the broccoli for about 3 minutes in a pot on the stove – the traditional way. But the other day I happened to be watching a cooking show on the Food Network and the chef, Jet Tila, talked about using Mike to prep the broccoli for a recipe he was making. He went on to say that Mike was the microwave and all he did was put the broccoli in a microwave safe bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and steam it for 3 minutes – much, much easier! So I did that with one exception – I only steamed my broccoli for a minute and a half as it was going to be baking in the oven for 30-40 minutes and that would accomplish the rest of the cooking.
2. The recipe I based this on solely called for grated sharp cheddar cheese in both the mixture and with the crumb topping. I used shredded sharp cheddar for the mixture and grated gruyere with the cracker topping. It was divine!

The rest was so easy. This is a recipe that you can make ahead of time, refrigerate the mixture and when ready to make it, let it sit out for about an hour to take the chill off, add the crumb mixture and bake it off.