Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Cauliflower cheese

I was supposed to share this recipe on Monday. But I didn’t. So, I’m sharing it now [smile].

Cauliflower cheese is a traditional British dish that can be eaten as a main meal or as a side dish to a main meal for either lunch or dinner. According to Wikipedia, the cauliflower is lightly boiled before being added to the cheese sauce and then baked in the oven with a light sprinkling of cheese and breadcrumbs on top.

I don’t like boiled cauliflower as it goes soggy and leeches water into the cheese sauce. I roast my cauliflower in the oven.

I used two heads of cauliflower for my recipe. I broke the heads into florets and wash them in cold water. I then laid them in a single layer on a roasting pan, sprinkled them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and baked them in the over for 40 minutes on 200 degrees Celsius. The tops are lightly browned when done and knife slips into the stems with no resistance. Remove from oven.

Making the cheese sauce

125 grams cubed butter

125 ml plain cake flour

Salt and pepper to taste

10 ml nutmeg

1 litre of low fat milk

3 cups of grated cheddar cheese (I used mature cheddar)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the cake flour and mix to form a paste. Cook for 5 minutes. Slowly, add the milk, whisking all the while. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg. whisk until the sauce thickens. Once thickened add 2 1/2 cups of the cheese and once combined with the sauce remove from the heat. Stir occasionally until the sauce cools slightly.

Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower and top with the remaining cheese and some breadcrumbs if you like a crispy topping.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the topping has melted completely.