Recipe: Three-Cheese Cauliflower
Last updated 8th Jan 2021
Every week on Simon Mayo's Saturday show, we're joined by food and wine expert, Nigel Barden, who talks us through incredible recipes and the wines that go with them. As well as satisfying your taste buds, we also satisfy your ears with a classical track that compliments the food perfectly.
Simon Mayo's show is on from 10am until 1pm every Saturday and you can listen here. On Saturday 9th January we made Three-Cheese Cauliflower.
The full recipe is below:
Three-Cheese Cauliflower
With Gruyère, Taleggio, Cheddar & Spring Onion
by Ollie Pudney & Joe Swiers from The Bull & Last (Etive Pubs Ltd)
Photography by Joe Howard
Exactly what a cauli cheese should be: indulgent, creamy and stuffed full of cheese.
Serves 4-6 generously, with some left over for the next day
You will need: a roughly 30 × 22 × 7cm baking dish
Ingredients
1 large cauliflower or 2 small (about 850g of florets)
70g unsalted butter
70g plain flour
600ml milk (whole or semi- skimmed)
100g Le Gruyère cheese, grated
200g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 spring onions, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced
200g Taleggio cheese, cut into 5mm-thick slices
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Break or cut the cauliflower into chunky, medium-sized florets. Blanch the cauliflower in the boiling water for 2–3 minutes, then drain in a colander.
Melt the butter in a separate large saucepan over a low heat, then add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until the butter and flour mixture smells biscuity. Gradually add the milk, whisking as you go, until it is all incorporated. Cook over a low heat for 6–7 minutes until thickened, then taste and season with a little salt and pepper. Stir in the grated cheeses and mustard, until the cheese has melted.
Once you are happy with the taste of the sauce, remove from the heat
and add the cauliflower and spring onions to the pan. Stir well to make sure all the cauliflower is coated, then transfer everything to the baking dish and spread it out. Place the Taleggio slices on top and transfer to the hot oven to bake for 25–30 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling.
Remove from the oven and serve.