Cauliflower cheese, florets only
The stalk left in the compost, not the dish
Halves for one in a small dish. Doubles for four if you use a larger cauliflower and a bigger dish.
Cauliflower splits opinion on this diet more than almost anything else. Some hospitals keep it off the list, and the leaflet this book follows allows it, once the florets are cooked well past the point of any bite. Florets only, no stalk, boiled until they collapse gently against a fork, then folded into a plain cheese sauce and put under the grill until it bubbles at the edges. What was a vegetable with some structure becomes something closer to a purée that has kept its shape. Choose a day when a little wind afterwards would not be a problem, since cauliflower can bring that on for some people.
Ingredients
Contains: Gluten, Milk
- 500 gcauliflower florets, florets only, no stalk, broken into even pieces
- 30 gunsalted butter
- 30 gplain flour
- 400 mlwhole milk
- 100 gCheddar, grated
- salt
Method
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the cauliflower florets for 8 to 10 minutes, until a knife slides into the thickest one with no resistance and no bite is left.
Drain well in a colander and leave for a minute to steam dry, then tip into a shallow baking dish about 20 cm across.
Melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the flour, and cook for a minute to a sandy paste.
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the milk gradually until smooth, then simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it coats the back of a spoon.
Heat the grill to high. Stir three-quarters of the Cheddar into the sauce, let it melt, then taste for salt.
Pour the sauce over the cauliflower, scatter the last of the Cheddar on top, and grill for about 5 minutes, until the sauce bubbles at the edges and the top turns a deep gold.
Watch-points
- Cauliflower: florets only, no stalk. Boil or steam until a knife meets no resistance.
- Throw the stalk and the thick core away before you start. Only the florets go into the dish.
Some hospitals leave cauliflower off the list altogether; the leaflet this book follows allows florets, cooked soft. Leave it out if you have been told to.
Stoma note: Cauliflower can bring on wind for some people. Serve it on a day when that would not be a problem.
Make it more nourishing
- Use 130 g of Cheddar instead of 100, stirred through the sauce.
- Swap 100 ml of the milk for double cream.
- Add a tablespoon of cream cheese to the sauce along with the Cheddar.
Swaps
- Instead of cauliflower, use broccoli florets, prepared and cooked the same way
- the same texture, and the same watch points apply
- Instead of Cheddar, use a mix of Cheddar and Gruyère
- a nuttier flavour that still melts smoothly