Herby Cauliflower Cheese

This cauliflower cheese is a perfect mix of comfort food and something a little fancy. It’s got the classics of cauliflower cheese - a creamy bechamel sauce over cauliflower florets, but the cauliflower is pre-baked first, so it’s a bit caramelized, and any excess moisture has evaporated. It keeps the sauce creamy, unlike if you boil the cauliflower first; it can sometimes curdle the sauce. Then, the dish is topped with a herby crumb, a mix of bread crumbs, mixed herbs, garlic, lemon zest, parmesan, and capers. It’s so delicious, and the flavours change depending on what herbs you’ve got available to use.

My favourite herb to use in this is sage. It’s got such a rich, earthy flavour, and I adore it with cauliflower. So, even if the other herbs included change during the seasons, I like to include sage if possible. I use a mini food processor to blend up the crumb ingredients. If you don’t have one, you could finely chop everything by hand for a more rustic crumb.

Cauliflower Cheese with Herb Crumb

The cauliflower is pre-baked on its own first, so you can start on the sauce and herb crumb when it's baking in the oven.

Ingredients

• One large head of cauliflower - around 800g of florets

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp fine salt

• Black pepper to taste

  Cheese Sauce

• 45g (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

• 2 cups milk

• 1/2 tsp fine salt

• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

• Black pepper to taste

• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Herb Crumb

• 1/4 cup loosely packed mixed fresh herbs ( sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil, mint, coriander….)

• 1/3 cup coarse bread crumbs

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• 1 clove fresh garlic

• 2 Tablespoon capers

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest

• Pinch of salt

• Black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F.)

Toss the cauliflower florets in the olive oil and seasonings and spread them onto a tray. Roast the cauliflower for around 18-20 minutes until it has started to caramelize. It’s okay that’s it not super tender yet.

Remove from the oven and lower the heat to 180°C (350°F.)

Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk into a paste, then cook and whisk for around 3 minutes without letting it brown.

Pour half the milk and whisk to dissolve the flour mixture into the milk. Let the mixture come to a simmer and start thickening, then add the remaining milk and bring it to a boil while whisking constantly until thickened. Take it off the heat and stir in the nutmeg, pepper, salt, and cheese.

Once the cauliflower has baked, transfer it to a baking dish and pour over the cheese sauce.

Combine the herb crumb ingredients in a small food processor and blitz them into crumb.

Scatter this over top of the cauliflower, then bake again for another 25-30 minutes until bubbling and the crumb is lightly browned.

Then it’s ready to serve!

I love this herby crumb on other dishes, too - it’s so good with pasta, on top of baked fish, or dishes you want to add some texture to.

Enjoy!