Cauliflower roasted rather than boiled, folded into a mustardy cornflour cheese sauce and finished with bacon and gluten-free crumbs so it eats as a main course.
Prep
20 mins
Cook
45 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£2.23
Difficulty
easy
Boiled cauliflower waterlogs the sauce and is the reason so much cauliflower cheese ends up thin and grey. Roasting the florets first drives off moisture and adds a nutty sweetness, which means the sauce stays thick and the whole dish has enough backbone to be dinner rather than a side.
Toss the cauliflower florets and any tender leaves with the olive oil and a little salt, spread out on a large tray and roast at 200C fan for 20-22 minutes, turning once, until the edges are browned and the stems are just tender.
Give them room. Piled up they steam, and you lose the browning that makes this dish worth eating.
Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a dry frying pan until crisp. Lift out onto kitchen paper, leaving the rendered fat behind.
Warm 500ml of the milk with the bay leaves until steaming, then take off the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Slake the cornflour with the remaining 100ml of cold milk until smooth.
Slaking in cold milk is non-negotiable. Cornflour tipped into hot liquid lumps instantly.
Remove the bay, return the milk to a gentle simmer, whisk in the cornflour paste and cook for 3 minutes, whisking, until thick. Off the heat, stir in the butter, two-thirds of the Cheddar, the mustard powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Fold the roasted cauliflower into the sauce and tip into a baking dish. Scatter over the remaining cheese, the breadcrumbs and the bacon fat from the pan, then the crisp bacon.
Toss the crumbs in the bacon fat first — they crisp far better than dry crumbs do.
Bake at 200C fan for 20-25 minutes until bubbling and deep gold on top. Rest 5 minutes, scatter with chives and serve with a sharp green salad.