Recipe: roasted cauliflower with cheese sauce
Whether you want to make a quick midweek meal or pull out all the stops with a dinner that will knock your guests’ socks off, RecipeTin Eats: TONIGHT by Nagi Maehashi is always a safe bet. This cookbook is packed with crowd-pleasers that are impossible to resist. Think ground beef with honey and ginger or pasta with feta and asparagus. From dishes that are on the table within 20 minutes to recipes that let you steal the show without any stress, this will make every evening a success. Take this cauliflower with cheese sauce, for example…
Low-carb mac and cheese
Nagi: “This really makes my heart beat faster! Because of its impressive shape, roasted cauliflower is an attractive vegetarian main course. I’ve made it in all kinds of ways, but this version with cheese sauce stood head and shoulders above the rest. It’s a kind of low-carb mac and cheese! This recipe comes from Andy Cooks: The Cookbook, the first cookbook by Andy Hearnden, a friend of mine. He’s an internet sensation with tens of millions of followers (what do you mean, you’ve never heard of Andy Cooks?!) and one of the most down-to-earth guys I’ve ever met – and a chef! Serve this cauliflower as a filling side dish or make it a main course with a salad and crusty bread to mop up your plate. You don’t want to waste a drop of sauce!“
How to make roasted cauliflower with cheese sauce
- Prepare the cauliflower – Remove all the leaves and cut off the stem so the cauliflower stays upright. Make a 2.5 cm-deep crosswise cut into the core at the bottom; it must remain intact. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
- Blanch – Bring 5 litres of water and 2 teaspoons of salt to the boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Carefully lower the cauliflower into the water with the florets facing upwards; it will float, but that’s fine. Bring the water back to the boil, then cook it for 12 minutes, until you can insert a small knife into the core fairly easily.
- Dry – Place the cauliflower in a large colander with the florets facing down, so the water can drain out properly (nobody likes watery cheese sauce!). Leave it to drain for 5 minutes, then pat it dry with paper towels.
- Roast – Place the cauliflower in a baking dish (I use my 26 cm cast-iron skillet). Drizzle it with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the cauliflower in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Cheese sauce – Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add the flour and stir it in for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking. Turn the heat to high. Whisk the milk mixture occasionally; whisk more frequently once the milk gets hot and starts to steam and a creamy sauce forms. Lower the heat once the milk starts to bubble. Add about two-thirds of the cheese and all the salt and pepper. Whisk thoroughly until the cheese has melted and you have a sauce with the consistency of thick honey.
- Spoon the cheese sauce over it – Remove the cauliflower from the oven. Let it stand for 10 minutes (this helps the cheese sauce adhere better). Preheat the grill to its highest setting and place the rack 25 cm below the grill element. Spoon the cheese sauce over the cauliflower; wait 30 seconds each time before adding another spoonful so the cheese can set (this will ultimately give you a thicker layer of sauce!). Finally, sprinkle the remaining cheese over it.
- Bake until golden brown – Place the cauliflower under the grill for 10 minutes, until lightly browned; rotate the baking dish halfway through. Keep a close eye on the cauliflower!
- Serve – Cut the cauliflower into wedges like a pie and serve it with a large serving spoon. Be quick to get plenty of cheese sauce!
What you need to know about cauliflower and blanching
- Buy a firm, compact cauliflower. This recipe does not work with an old, limp cauliflower, because it will fall apart.
- Andy uses gruyère only. I like to add red leicester because it gives the sauce a beautiful colour and an excellent sharp cheese flavour. It pairs very well with gruyère, a spectacular melting cheese that adds warm, nutty notes to the flavour. I stick to these cheeses when I have guests, but feel free to use your favourite melting cheeses, such as cheddar, manchego or emmentaler. Don’t use mozzarella, as its flavour is too mild. In any case, grate all the cheese yourself, because pre-grated cheese contains an anti-caking agent that makes the sauce powdery.
- Blanching tips: the easiest way to lift the cauliflower out of the water is with a slotted spoon and tongs. The florets should still be firmly attached to one another but already partly cooked. Insert a sharp paring knife into the core to check this.
Storage
Keeps well in the fridge for three days. Not suitable for freezing. If you want to work ahead, you can prepare the blanched cauliflower and cheese sauce up to two days in advance. Store them fully cooled in the fridge. Bring the cauliflower to room temperature before use and roast it according to the recipe. You can reheat the cheese sauce on the stove.
Title: RecipeTin Eats: TONIGHT
Author: Nagi Maehashi
Price: €32,99
Publisher: Spectrum
Publication date: 25 March 2025
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