Broccoli Blue Cheese Bake

[nverland]

Broccoli Blue Cheese Bake
Yield: 4-5 servings

Ingredients

4 cups fresh small broccoli florets
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 large garlic cloves, minced (if you love garlic use 2 cloves)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup blue cheese crumbled (for a milder blue cheese flavor reduce to 1/3 cup)
1 cup milk or light cream
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 ½ cups Ritz butter cracker crumbs (a little shy of two sleeves of crackers)
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a medium cooking dish with cooking spray.

Steam broccoli florets until firm but tender for about 2-3 minutes. You can put your broccoli in a microwave safe bowl with 2 inches of water and microwaved it for 3 minutes. Drain well then pat dry with paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible.

In a large saucepan melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat; add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute.

Add the cream cheese, blue cheese and milk or cream; stir over low heat until melted and smooth then stir in the broccoli florets.

In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs with 6 tablespoons melted butter until well combined. Remove 1 cup of the cracker mixture and stir it into the broccoli mixture. Season with black pepper.

Transfer mixture into a casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining cracker crumbs. Return to oven and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 4-5 servings.