Cheese Cauliflower

Posted: December 17, 2025 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized |1 Comment

I made one of my favorite British standards, cheese cauliflower for Chinese Auction yesterday. It is not the same as cauliflower au gratin which is decidedly French. I think they both are yummy ways to eat cauliflower since I believe everything is better with cheese.

Turns out many of my friends have not enjoyed the joy of the British version and found the dish to be a revelation. Why not? It’s like the best of Mac and cheese without the pasta guilt. So I promised the recipe. One friend said, “Well, it will be a pinch of this and a handful of that.” I know when I tell you how to make something that is what it sounds like since that is how I cook. So I will do my best to translate my hand sized cooking to actual measurements.

I have to divide everything by four, since I made yesterday’s with 4 heads of cauliflower. This makes my translating extra hard.

1big head of cauliflower, broken into florets

4T. Butter

4 T. Flour

1 T. English ground mustard like Coleman’s

2 1/2 cups of whole milk

1/4 t. Cayenne pepper

1/2 t. White pepper

Salt to taste

1/4 t. Nutmeg

1 cup unexpected cheddar (Trader Joe’s) shredded cheese

1 cup fontina grated

1 cup Gruyere grated

2 t. Dried thyme

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Bring a big pot of water to boil and add the cauliflower and cook until tender, about 5 mins. Drain. Place in a shallow casserole dish.

Make the sauce by melting the butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour and stir to cook the roux. Add the dry mustard as you are stirring the roux. Cook the roux on medium heat about three minutes, but not so long that it gets too brown. Add the milk a little bit at a time, stirring the whole time. Bring to a boil and then reduce and keep stirring as you thicken the sauce. Add the cayenne, nutmeg and white pepper. The sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Taste and add salt if needed. (Depends on how salty your cheese was.)

Mix the three cheeses together in a bowl. Take about half the cheese and add to sauce. Stir to melt, not on heat. Pour the sauce over the cooked cauliflower.

Add the thyme and bread crumbs to the bowl with the other half of the cheese. Mix well and sprinkle it over the top of the cauliflower.

Bake in 350° oven for about 25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling. Cherrio!

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