Cauliflower cheese with crispy bacon recipe
We always had great difficulty convincing our children to try cauliflower. That was before we came across this recipe for a jazzed-up cauliflower cheese. Now they complain that we don’t make it often enough!
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, peeled, halved and studded with 6 cloves
- 500 ml whole milk
- 3 large, fresh bay leaves
- 0.5 tsp black peppercorns
- 40 g butter
- 35 g plain flour
- 1 large, very fresh cauliflower, weighing about 1.5kg, core removed, cut into large florets
- 200 g mature cheddar, coarsely grated, plus more for the top
- 3 tbsp double cream
- 2 tsp English mustard
- 200 g large, vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 12 rashers rindless, smoked streaky bacon
- 1 pinch salt and freshly ground white pepper
- 4 slices hot buttered wholemeal toast, to serve
Details
- Cuisine: English
- Recipe Type: Side
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 20 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Pop the studded onion halves into a pan with the milk, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside for 20 minutes.
- Return the milk to the boil, then strain it, discarding the flavouring ingredients. Melt the butter in a non-stick pan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, beat in the hot milk, then return to the boil, stirring. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, preheat the grill to high. Drop the cauliflower into a large pan of boiling water and cook for 7-8 minutes until tender. Drain really well.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in 150g of the cheese together with the cream, mustard and seasoning to taste. Toss the cherry tomatoes with the oil and season. Arrange the cauliflower in a shallow ovenproof dish and pour over the sauce. Scatter over the remaining cheese and the tomatoes. Pop the bacon in a roasting tin, slide both under the grill and cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft, the cheese is golden and the bacon is crisp. Serve with toast.
Recipe taken from Yeo Valley: The Great British Farmhouse by Sarah Mayor, published by Quadrille Publishing, £20. Photography by Andrew Montgomery.
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