Creamy Gratin of Hard-Cooked Eggs
A sumptuous main course for a brunch or dinner party. The hard-cooked eggs are topped with a luxurious gluten-free béchamel sauce plus chopped, cooked bacon. The entire dish can be assembled a day ahead of time and then heated in the oven about 30 minutes before serving time. I like to garnish the dish with chopped, fresh chives just before serving.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- Butter or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the baking dish
- 8 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced lengthwise in half
- 2 cups half-and-half (half whole milk and half cream)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, blended to a smooth slurry in 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 cup grated or shredded Swiss cheese
- 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
- 5 slices already-cooked bacon, roughly chopped
- A sprinkling of chopped fresh chives for garnish
Instructions
- Center the oven rack and preheat the oven to 350° or 180°C. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or non-stick spray. Arrange the eggs cut-side down in the prepared baking dish.
- The béchamel: In a saucepan set over medium heat, bring the half-and-half to a boil. Immediately add the cornstarch solution, and whisk constantly until the the half-and-half thickens -- about 30 seconds. Off heat, stir in the Swiss cheese, mustard, nutmeg and salt.
- Pour the béchamel over and in between the hard-cooked eggs. Top with the Parmesan cheese. Arrange the chopped, already-cooked bacon over the cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese melts and starts to bubble at the edges -- 20-25 minutes. Garnish with the chopped chives and serve.