Three cheese cauliflower

Ingredients

• 50 g lightly salted butter, softened
• 50 g plain flour
• Knob of butter
• ½ leek, chopped into squares
• 1 L milk
• 2 medium sized cauliflower heads, cut into large florets, plus the outer leaves
• 250 g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 200 g blue cheese, crumbled
• 100 g parmesan, broken into small pieces (use the vegetarian variety to keep this a meat free dish)
• A couple of stems of fresh thyme
• Black pepper, to taste
• Crusty bread, to serve

Method: How to make Three cheese cauliflower

1

Preheat the oven to 220C

2

First, mix the butter and flour to make a paste.

3

To make the sauce, place a knob of butter in a large pan and add the chopped leeks. Cook for a couple of minutes until the leeks start to soften and sweat down. Add the milk and bring to the boil.

4

Gently stir in a little of the flour and butter paste at a time until is has dissolved thoroughly. Bring to the boil and simmer for a minute then remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.

5

Blanch the cauliflower florets and outer leaves in salted boiling water for around 3-4 minutes then drain into a colander. Tip the cauliflower into an oven-proof dish and place in the oven for a few minutes to dry it out.

6

Add the grated cheddar and blue to the sauce and mix in.

7

Place the blanched and dried cauliflower florets and leaves into a big bowl and pour the cheese sauce over the top. Make sure you cover the cauliflower well and leave the bowl to stand for a couple of minutes so the cheese absorbs into all the nooks and crannies of the cauliflower.

8

Sprinkle over some picked thyme leaves and a generous pinch of black pepper and stir in. You don't need to add salt to season this dish as the cheeses will add a salty flavour.

9

Transfer the cauliflower cheese to a large casserole dish (one you'd like to set out on the table) and sprinkle grated cheese as a  topping. Bake in the oven for around 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Serve straight from the dish you baked it in with some crusty bread on the side.