Carrot Au Gratin

After my Ham and Corn Au Gratin turned out so great I thought, I can make anything 'Au Gratin' and it would probably be good. So I went with this vegetarian version and it was delicious!! It is also from Taste Of Home Cooking for One or Two.

Ingredients:

* 3 medium carrots, sliced
* 2 tablespoons chopped onion
* 5 teaspoons butter, divided
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* Dash pepper
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
* 2 tablespoons crushed cornflakes

Directions:
Place 1 in. of water in a saucepan; add carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until carrots are almost tender. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, saute onion in 3 teaspoons butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and parsley until cheese is melted. Drain carrots; add to sauce.
Transfer to a greased 2-cup baking dish. Melt remaining butter; stir in cornflakes. Sprinkle over carrots. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Yield: 2 servings.





Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (I used my toaster oven of course) and lets gather some ingredients. You need some carrots (or one giant one like I had) onion, butter, flour, milk, shredded cheese, parsley and corn flakes. I didn't have corn flakes so I just used crackers.




Chop up the carrot and the onion. Get the carrots in a sauce pan wiht about an inch of water and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let them cook for 6-8 minutes until tender.




Meanwhile, melt some butter and set it aside.




In another pan, get some more butter and the onion going until they are tender.




While those cook, combine the cracker crumbs or smashed corn chips in a bowl with the butter. I also added a little cheese because Cheese is delicious!




When the onions are tender, stir in the flour, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the milk. Do this nice and slow so your sauce isn't gritty or pasty. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring.




Remove from the heat then stir in the cheese and parsley.




Your carrots should now be done so drain those guys and we are ready to assemble!




Doesn't the cheese sauce look fantastic??




I didn't bother to combine the carrots and the cheese, I just got the carrots in a greased casserole dish. I also threw in the last of a bag of frozen peas. I used a great Pyrex dish, big surprise there.




Pour the sauce on and top with the crumb topping. Put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes and then you are ready for some tasty, vegetarian comfort food.




Doesn't it look delicious??




It tasted great, even better than the Ham and Corn Au Gratin I made before it!