Food enthusiast Nagi, of Recipe Tin Eats, shared her go-to cauliflower cheese recipe. The classic British side dish is typically made with boiled cauliflower, béchamel sauce and cheese.
However, Nagi encourages home cooks to roast the cauliflower, insisting it’s the “better way to make cauliflower cheese”. Nagi said roasted cauliflower leads to “better flavour” and means you’re not at risk of making a “watery” mess. The roasted cauliflower is then baked in the oven with cheese for a gloriously delicious accompaniment.
Method
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan). Toss the cauliflower florets in oil, salt and pepper. Spread onto a large baking tray. Roast the cauliflower for 20 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and turn down the heat to 180C.
Making the cheese sauce
Heat the milk and cream on the stove, then in another saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour, and stir regularly for three minutes.
While stirring, add in half of the milk; once dissolved and thickened, add in the other half of the milk. Stir for one minute.
Once the milk and flour mixture is thick enough to “coat a wooden spoon”, turn the stove off, add the salt, nutmeg and cheeses, then stir. Add in the roasted cauliflower.
Baking
Transfer the cauliflower cheese to an ovenproof dish and top with gruyere and Red Leicester cheese.
Bake in the oven for en at 180C for half an hour. Once baked, sprinkle with parsley, let it stand for five minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for a maximum of four days; Nagi insisted that freezing the cauliflower cheese is “not recommended”.
