Easy Cauliflower Cheese

The ultimate in comfort food, cauli-cheese just makes the world a happy place. Break through the crispy, browned cheddar topping to the creamy gorgeous yumminess below, I can’t get enough of this British classic. Don’t be shocked at my method, I openly admit this is a cheat’s cheese sauce. I have to give credit to one of my oldest friends, Julie, who taught me this sauce technique, and it’s beautifully fail proof. I have never gone back to the traditional method – which in my case involved bringing out the electric hand blender to smooth the lumps

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
1 ½ pints of full fat milk
200g extra mature cheddar cheese, grated (keep about 20g aside for the topping)
1 ½ tablespoons plain flour

Method

1. Boil the cauliflower for 5-7 minutes, drain and lay in an oven-proof dish so the stems are facing down.
2. In a large glass, add the flour and add a small amount of milk to make a paste. Slowly add the milk a little by little scraping and mixing the flour from the sides and bottom. You can see through the glass to check you have mixed in all the flour. Keep adding the milk until the glass in around half to two-thirds full and all the flour is dissolved into the milk.
3. Still cold, pour the mixture into a pan and add the rest of the milk and stir.
4. Turn on the hob on a medium ring and stir continuously. This is the toughest part of the recipe, you have to stir slowly and continuously, don’t think you can do anything else, the success is all in the stirring.
5. As the sauce heats up it will start to thicken and can get thick very quickly so be careful to keep stirring. Once it gets to a custard like consistency, remove from heat and stir in the grated cheese until all melted and smooth, remember to keep some aside to spinkle on top.
6. Pour over the cauliflower making sure all florets are evenly covered.
7. Sprinkle the left over cheese on top.
8. Bake in the oven at 180c for 30 minutes until the cheese on top is brown and crispy.