Chef Thomas
A Proper Roast Chicken
A whole bird rubbed with butter, stuffed with lemon and thyme, roasted until the skin crackles and the kitchen smells like the kind of evening you want to sit down and stay in.
Culinary Explorer
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Cauliflower Cheese
Created by Chef Thomas
A whole cauliflower blanketed in strong, mustardy cheese sauce, baked until the top blisters gold and the kitchen smells like the kind of evening where nothing else needs doing.
Main Dishes
British
Weeknight
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
30 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings
October rain against the window. The kitchen is warm. Something good is in the oven and the whole house smells of it: butter, Cheddar, that faintly sweet note of cauliflower softening in its blanket of sauce. Cauliflower cheese is not a side dish. I know it gets treated like one, pushed to the edge of the plate next to a roast, and that's fine. But made properly, with a whole head of cauliflower and a sauce that means business, it is dinner. All of it. Maybe some bread to mop the dish. A green salad if you feel you should. That's all.
The sauce is the thing. A proper cheese sauce, made in a pan with butter and flour and milk and patience, is worth learning once and knowing forever. It takes ten minutes and the only skill involved is not walking away from the stove. Use a strong Cheddar, the kind that bites back, and a spoonful of English mustard to sharpen it. The Parmesan on top is not strictly traditional, but it blisters and crisps in the oven in a way that earns its place.
I make this when the cauliflowers at the market are good: heavy, tight-headed, still wearing their leaves. The season runs from autumn through winter, which is exactly when you want a dish like this. Something golden and bubbling, carried to the table in the dish it was baked in. There are few better feelings than putting a warm plate in front of someone on a cold night and watching them not talk for the first three mouthfuls.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cauliflower
Quantity
1 large
leaves trimmed but a few left on
unsalted butter
Quantity
40g
plain flour
Quantity
40g
whole milk
Quantity
500ml
English mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
strong Cheddar
Quantity
150g
coarsely grated
Parmesan
Quantity
50g
finely grated
ground nutmeg
Quantity
pinch
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cauliflowerleaves trimmed but a few left on | 1 large |
| unsalted butter | 40g |
| plain flour | 40g |
| whole milk | 500ml |
| English mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| strong Cheddarcoarsely grated | 150g |
| Parmesanfinely grated | 50g |
| ground nutmeg | pinch |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Large saucepan for blanching
- •Heavy-bottomed saucepan for the sauce
- •Shallow ovenproof dish, roughly 25cm
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Cook the cauliflower
Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Break the cauliflower into generous florets, not too small, you want pieces that still have some architecture to them. Drop them into the water and cook for five or six minutes, until a knife meets slight resistance but slides in without force. You want them yielding, not soft. They'll cook further in the oven. Drain well and tip them into an ovenproof dish. A shallow one is better than a deep one. More surface means more golden crust, and the crust is the point.
Don't throw away the inner leaves if they're fresh and pale. Cook them with the florets. They go tender and sweet and nobody will complain about finding one in their bowl. - 2
Make the cheese sauce
Set the oven to 200C/180C fan. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat. When it foams, add the flour and stir it in with a wooden spoon. Cook this paste for a minute or two, stirring constantly, until it smells biscuity and has lost its raw, floury taste. Now pour in the milk, a good splash at a time, stirring between each addition until smooth. The first few additions will seize into a thick paste. That's right. Keep stirring, keep adding. Patience here saves you lumps later. Once all the milk is in, turn the heat down and let it simmer gently for five minutes, stirring often, until it coats the back of the spoon properly.
If it goes lumpy despite your best efforts, pass it through a sieve. No one will know. It happens to everyone and anyone who says otherwise is lying. - 3
Season the sauce
Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the mustard, the nutmeg, and most of the Cheddar, saving a handful for the top. The cheese will melt into the sauce and turn it glossy and golden. Season with salt and pepper. Taste it. The sauce should be properly savoury, almost too cheesy on its own. It needs to be, because the cauliflower will temper it. If it tastes polite, add more cheese.
- 4
Assemble and bake
Pour the sauce over the cauliflower in the dish, making sure it gets into the gaps between the florets. Scatter the reserved Cheddar and the Parmesan over the top. Put it on a baking tray to catch any drips and slide it into the oven. Bake for twenty to twenty-five minutes, until the top has blistered and gone gold in patches and the sauce is bubbling at the edges, thick and volcanic. Let it sit for five minutes before you serve it. The sauce will settle and thicken, and you'll be less likely to burn the roof of your mouth. Less likely, not guaranteed.
Chef Tips
- •The cheese makes or breaks this. Use a properly strong, mature Cheddar. Something aged eighteen months or more, crumbly and sharp. A mild Cheddar will give you a mild sauce, and a mild sauce is a wasted opportunity.
- •Don't overcook the cauliflower before it goes in the oven. It should be firm enough that you'd hesitate to call it done. The oven will finish the job. Soggy cauliflower in good sauce is still a disappointment.
- •This wants to be eaten from a wide, shallow dish, not a deep casserole. You're after a high ratio of golden, blistered top to sauce. The crust is not a bonus. It's the reason you made it.
- •Leftovers, if there are any, reheat well in the oven with a splash of milk stirred through the sauce to loosen it. The microwave will do in a pinch, but the top loses its crispness and that's a loss worth avoiding.
Advance Preparation
- •The cheese sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Press cling film directly onto the surface to prevent a skin forming. Reheat gently, stirring in a splash of milk to bring it back.
- •The whole dish can be assembled, covered, and refrigerated for up to a day before baking. Add five minutes to the oven time if baking from cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 340g)
Calories
445 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
18 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
90 mg
Sodium
820 mg
Total Carbohydrates
25 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
23 g
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