I am a big fan of cauliflower cheese. I'm a big fan of anything smothered in cheese sauce, especially if you can claim it's healthy as part of your five a day. This is a brilliant way of getting almost a whole meal into one oven dish. You can of course serve this as a side dish to a large hunk of protein; pork chops, sausages, rump steak...sorry, I got distracted. Basically it would work well as main event or as part of the chorus. And it's easily vegetarianised, by taking out the bacon. And this would be a lovely way to use up any veg and potatoes you had left over after a roast dinner. On Boxing Day, when your most likely to have large quantities of cold cooked spuds and veg, this would be a relatively easy way to make what is essentially the same meal taste totally different. Serve with whichever meat you had for Christmas lunch with gravy and possibly some frozen peas, otherwise the meal would look a little pale. And if your meat is turkey, a large splodge of cranberry jelly. Anyway, here goes...
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, separated into florets
500g little potatoes, such as Charlotte or New potatoes
30g butter
30g plain flour
600ml semi-skimmed milk
100g grated Cheddar, plus extra
6 rashers streaky bacon, cut into 1cm strips
1 small packet of plain salted crisps
Preheat the oven to 200C
In a pan of boiling salted water, cook the florets for about 5 minutes until they are slightly softened. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and put into your oven dish. Keep the water boiling and add the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan, then add the flour. Beat them together and cook for about a minute until there is a little colour in the mixture (called a roux) and to get rid of the floury taste. Add a little of the milk, beat in, then add about 1/3 of the milk in and whisk together, getting rid of the lumps. Cook this a little, allowing it to thicken, then add another 1/3 of the milk, mixing and thickening. Add the grated cheese and mix it thoroughly allowing it to thicken quite a bit, then add the last of the milk. If you wanted you could add 1/4 teaspoon of English mustard powder for a bit of piquancy. Once the sauce is thick enough (about the consistency of a normal yoghurt) set it aside.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and return to the pan. Cut them in half then add to the oven dish with the cauliflower. Then add the bacon if using. Pour the sauce over, catching the tops of all the bits of cauliflower that are jutting out a bit. Sprinkle some more grated cheese over the top. Take your packet of crisps, open it and then crush the contents into crumbs. Sprinkle these all over the top of the bake.
Put in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling and serve anyway you please. I like it best with chunky bread and butter, fantastic of soaking up the excess sauce.
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, separated into florets
500g little potatoes, such as Charlotte or New potatoes
30g butter
30g plain flour
600ml semi-skimmed milk
100g grated Cheddar, plus extra
6 rashers streaky bacon, cut into 1cm strips
1 small packet of plain salted crisps
Preheat the oven to 200C
In a pan of boiling salted water, cook the florets for about 5 minutes until they are slightly softened. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and put into your oven dish. Keep the water boiling and add the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan, then add the flour. Beat them together and cook for about a minute until there is a little colour in the mixture (called a roux) and to get rid of the floury taste. Add a little of the milk, beat in, then add about 1/3 of the milk in and whisk together, getting rid of the lumps. Cook this a little, allowing it to thicken, then add another 1/3 of the milk, mixing and thickening. Add the grated cheese and mix it thoroughly allowing it to thicken quite a bit, then add the last of the milk. If you wanted you could add 1/4 teaspoon of English mustard powder for a bit of piquancy. Once the sauce is thick enough (about the consistency of a normal yoghurt) set it aside.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and return to the pan. Cut them in half then add to the oven dish with the cauliflower. Then add the bacon if using. Pour the sauce over, catching the tops of all the bits of cauliflower that are jutting out a bit. Sprinkle some more grated cheese over the top. Take your packet of crisps, open it and then crush the contents into crumbs. Sprinkle these all over the top of the bake.
Put in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling and serve anyway you please. I like it best with chunky bread and butter, fantastic of soaking up the excess sauce.
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