Yesterday lunch time, it seemed like practically everyone in my office was eating cauliflower cheese soup. The rich cheesy smell wafting around the place, and the autumnal nip in the air had me craving cauliflower cheese for dinner.
Ordinarily, I would serve cauliflower cheese as a side dish with a roast dinner, but out of ease and laziness, I decided to think of a way to beef it up and make a whole meal out of it.
Cannellini beans are perfect for adding substance to a dish like this, without overpowering it, and all the fibre in the beans will make it really filling. Baked with a crispy breadcrumb topping, and an extra helping of cheese, and you have yourself a perfectly substantial meal.
Both cauliflower and cannellini are relatively bland, so it is important to get plenty of flavour into the sauce, so a good helping of strong cheese is essential, while mustard seeds, garlic, and bay add depth.
It is necessary to cook the cauliflower a little before baking this dish, and I would strongly recommend streaming rather than boiling, because if you saturate the vegetable by boiling, it will seep out into the cheese sauce and make it runny and diluted. If you don't have a steamer, simply place the cauliflower pieces in a bowl with a couple of tablespoons of water, cover with clingfilm and microwave.
Serve with some wilted spinach, or a nice big spoonful of peas.
Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florettes
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of plain flour
1 pint of milk
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 can of cannellini beans
1 large handful of breadcrumbs
350g of strong cheddar
salt/pepper
Directions
Place the cauliflower in a steamer, and cook for 7mins.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the garlic and mustard seeds. Cook for 2mins. Stir in the flour to make a paste and cook for a further 2mins, on a low heat.
Pour in milk and add bay leaf, increase heat, and whisk constantly until it thickend. Remove from heat and grate in two thirds of the cheese.
Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cauliflower and cannellini beans. Turn into an oven dish and top with breadcrumbs and the rest of the cheese.
Place in the oven at 200C/ Gas Mark 5, until brown and crispy.
Serve with greens.