This cauliflower cheese gratin recipe makes our family favourite even tastier, but is really simple to make.
All you’ll need to make this cauliflower cheese gratin recipe is chunks of cauliflower (including the stalks) lightly cooked then coated in rich cheese sauce and topped with halved plum tomatoes and breadcrumbs.
Don’t forget the Parmesan for a truely cheesy gratin dish!
Cauliflower cheese gratin can be served as a standalone vegetarian meal or as a delicious accompaniment to many popular dishes – fish, poultry or even a Sunday roast. Lets be honest cheese sauce works with everything!
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower, broken into large florets, about 1kg (2¼lb)
- 8 baby plum tomatoes, halved
- A handful of breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
- Black pepper
- For the sauce:
- 60g (2oz) butter
- 60g (2oz) plain flour
- 600ml (1 pint) milk, or half milk and half cooking water
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
- A good squeeze of readymade English mustard
- Freshly grated nutmeg
- 150g (5oz) Cheddar, grated
Method
Add the cauliflower to a large pan of boiling water and cook for 10 mins until just tender. Leave to drain in a colander.
To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and stir to make a paste. Take off the heat. add a little milk and beat well until smooth. Put back on the heat and gradually add the rest of the milk. Bring to the boil, add the bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
Add the spring onions to the sauce and cook for a couple of mins. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the mustard, some nutmeg and the Cheddar.
Put a gratin dish under the grill to warm up for a few mins. Arrange cauliflower in the dish. Pour sauce over. Scatter with the tomatoes, breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Grill for about 5 mins. Finally, season your cauliflower cheese with pepper.
Top tip for making Cauliflower cheese gratin
Add a bay leaf to the cauliflower cooking water to tabsorb the smell of the veg cooking and a little lemon juice to keep the florets white.
