We love cauliflower cheese here in the uk and you can really pimp it up with bacon, different types of cheeses, mushrooms, black pudding or any green vegetables like spinach. My husband was told by the dr he needs abit more fiber in his diet so I used spring greens as a they are high in fiber and iron along with many more nutrients! Once you’ve made the cheese sauce a couple of times in will be 2nd nature, equal butter to equal flour and a pint of milk I use skimmed to keep it a bit less skinny. If you add a bit of milk at a time you can judge the thickness you would like. I also blanch the greens then pop them in ice cold water. This keeps the bright green colour vibrant and also keeps abit of texture too. For breadcrumbs whenever I have leftover stale bread I blitz it in the food processor and pop it in the freezer in a bag they don’t clump together you can mix types of bread and just grab a handful straight from frozen when you need to use them. This is great as a side dish but for midweek we have this as our dinner served with some crusty bread.
Ingredients (serves 2 or 4 as a side dish)
For the bake
- I head of cauliflower, broken into medium florets and stalks removed
- 1 bunch of greens, chopped
For the cheese sauce
- 25g butter
- 2 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
- 1 tsp English mustard powder (or add 1tsp of jarred mustard after adding milk)
- 400ml milk, I used skimmed
- 150g cheddar cheese, I use mature
- I/2 tsp grated nutmeg, optional
- Good grind or pinch of black pepper
- Salt to taste, amount depends on what cheese your using
For the breadcrumbs
- Good handful of breadcrumbs (1 slice of bread blitzed in food processor)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme, leaves only
- 1 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese, optional
- Pinch of salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 190 degrees fan.
For the cauliflower and greens
- Heat a pan of salted water to the boil. Add in the cauliflower florets and cook for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon into a colander. Give it a shake to drain off as much water as you can. Pat the cauliflower with some kitchen roll or a tea towel and tip into your baking dish.
- In the same pan of water, bring it back to a boil. Get a bowl of water ready with 1 or 2 ices cubes. Blanch the greens for a minute in the boiling water. Drain then tip the greens in the ices cold water bowl. Leave for a few minutes, drain the greens and again pat out the excess water. Tip into the dish with the cauliflower and give it a light mix so the greens are evenly spaced out between the cauliflower. Set aside.
For the cheese sauce
- In a saucepan over a medium heat melt the butter but don’t let it bubble or brown.
- Add the flour and mustard powder and keep stirring to form a paste (roux) over the heat keep the paste moving so the flour cooks not to fast though you just don’t want it to catch. When you start to smell a slightly nutty smell add in the milk. You can do a bit at a time whisking as you go. Bring to the boil keep stirring and it will thicken. If it is too thick just add a splash of milk.
- Once you’re happy with the consistency turn off the heat add the cheese and stir until it melts. Add the nutmeg and black pepper. Taste and add salt a small pinch at a time to your taste. Pour over the cauliflower and greens. Give the dish a tap on the side so the cheese sauce gets into all the little gaps.
For the breadcrumbs
- Add all of the breadcrumb ingredients into a bowl and give it a good mix. Sprinkle on top of your assembled veg and sauce.
spaulyseasonalservings.com 