Cauliflower and smoked cheese gratin recipe

Details

• Cuisine: American
• Recipe Type: Cauliflower
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 55 mins
• Serves: 6

Step-by-step

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cut your cauliflower into large but even-sized florets. Boil for 3 minutes, then scoop out of the water and lay them in the gratin dish you will use.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Melt 30g (1oz) of the butter in a small saucepan and add the breadcrumbs. Mix to combine, then set aside.
3. Next, make the béchamel sauce. Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan set over a medium heat. Add the flour and cook for about 2 minutes while mixing with a wooden spoon. Gradually add the milk, then the bay leaf.
4. Switch to a whisk and whisk the mixture together so you don’t have many lumps, then go back to a wooden spoon and continuously stir the mixture, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan so that it doesn’t burn. Once the mixture simmers, it’s done.
5. Remove and discard the bay leaf and add the salt, Parmesan, chives, nutmeg and a few cracks of black pepper. Mix well and taste. It should be well seasoned.
6. Pour it over the cauliflower and try to spread it out evenly, then sprinkle the smoked cheese over the top. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 15 minutes for a fan-forced oven or 20 minutes for a conventional oven.
7. At this stage, remove it from the oven and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top. Bake for another 15–20 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown. If it needs more browning beyond this point, put it under the grill (broiler) for a minute or two, but don’t walk away from it; it can burn easily! Serve immediately.

This recipe is from Always Add Lemon by Danielle Alvarez, (Hardie Grant, £26.61). Photography: © Benito Martin and Jess Johnson.