You doesn’t love a roast dinner??
This Cheesy Cauliflower Gratin will be the perfect addition to a roast dinner, a midweek feast with some simple chicken, beef or fish or turn it into a full dish with added pasta or chopped chicken pieces.
I made this recently for the Mother’s Day lunch I cooked in the Ronald McDonald House in Crumlin Hospital and it went down a storm. I wanted to create a comforting feast that an entire family would love. Alongside the cauliflower gratin, I served slow-cooked brisket, rosemary and sea-salt roast potatoes and a seasonal slaw.
For my cauliflower inspired recipes try my: Cauliflower & Almond Curry, and I also have a great cauliflower soup in my cookbook.
Serves 5.
- 25g butter or rapeseed oil
- 25g plain flour
- 500ml milk
- 1 tbsp Dijon or multigrain mustard
- 300g grated hard cheese (cheddar, mozzarella etc.)
- 1 whole head of cauliflower
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir in the flour until a moist paste is formed. Slowly add the milk, whisking as you go until it is well combined and a thick smooth sauce is formed. Finally, stir in the mustard and half of the cheese. Allow the cheese to melt and whisk again until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Remove the outer cauliflower leaves and discard any looking the worst for wear. Thinly slice the leaves until they resemble cabbage for coleslaw. Cut the cauliflower into florets or bite-sized chunks.
- To assemble: spread 1/3 of the cheese sauce on the bottom of a medium sized ovenproof dish. Spread half the cauliflower leaves and florets over the sauce, spread another 1/3 of the sauce on top followed by the remainder of the cauliflower leaves and florets and finally spread the remaining 1/3 of cheese sauce on top. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the top.
- Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until golden and the cauliflower is soft through.
