Cauliflower Cheese
A good value family favourite.
Ingredients for four good servings
- 1 big cauliflower (buy two small ones if you can't find a big one)
- 300g pasta or your choice (macaroni, etc.)
- 250g cheddar cheese (or another cheese that you like)
- 75g smoked ham (or cooked ham if you prefer that - you will need twice the amount for cooked ham)
- 50g butter
- 50g flour
- 1 litre of milk
- salt
- pepper
- nutmeg
- 1cl olive oil
Preparation Time: 60 minutes
Preparation
 | Here is our lovely cauliflower - straight from my local famer's market! Take off the green leaves and cut back the stem. |
 | Now cut off the individual roses and wash them in cold water. |
 | Then cut the remaining stem into 5mm thick slices - don't waste it. |
 | Put the cauliflower into a sizeable saucepan, add some salt and about 1cm of water. Bring to a boil and steam the cauliflower with the lid closed for about 9 minutes. |
 | In the meantime, bring 2 litres of water to a boil, add half a teaspoon of salt and 1 cl of olive oil. Add the pasta and boil until "al dente" - follow the instructions on your pasta package. |
 | Whilst the cauliflower is steaming and your pasta is boiling, grate your cheese with a coarse grater. |
 | Put the cauliflower into an oven-proof dish that is big enough. You can cut the roses into 2 or 3 parts if they are too big - this is especially important if you have children as they won't like large chunks of cauliflower! |
 | When the pasta is done, drain is in a sieve and add it to the dish with the cauliflower. Distribute the pasta and the cauliflower evenly. |
 | Now cut your ham into squares. It is time to preheat your oven to about 180 degrees centigrade (don't ask me for conversions, please check google!) |
 | Time to make the white sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan. |
 | When the butter has melted, add the flour and stir vigorously with a whisk. |
 | Whisk until the butter/flour mixture is nice and even and changes colour slightly. |
 | Now add small amounts of milk, whisk again until the mixture thickens, and add more milk. You will want your hob on a fairly high setting for this and proceed quickly. |
 | Once all the milk is added, bring to a boil again. |
 | Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Take it easy on the salt as we will add cheese later. Also, the ham will contain a fair amount of salt ... |
 | Now add half the grated cheese and whisk until the cheese has dissolved. Take the saucepan off the hob. |
 | Spread your ham on top of the cauliflower and pasta. |
 | Then add your white sauce - distribute it evenly. |
 | Last but not least, distribute the other half of the grated cheese on top. Put the dish into your pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees (or until it looks like in the picture below - don't burn it :-). |
 | Voila - your finished cauliflower cheese. Very popular with my kids! |
Best with ...
A salad and a glass of red wine.