I’ll let you into a secret – I am not a fan of cauliflower – it started in childhood and whilst other foods have become something i now happily eat I will never choose Cauli.  I do however, thanks most to my hubby, have a secret craving for Cauliflower cheese whenever I have roast chicken.

I have been known to keep a bag of frozen cauli cheese (its actually quite good) in the freezer incase the craving hits but for sunday roasts only homemade will do.  So here it is – my recipe for cauliflower cheese…

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower broken into pieces
• 500ml milk
• 4 tbs flour
• 50g butter
• 100g strong grated cheese
• a good grating of fresh parmesan to finish

Method

• Heat oven to 220C/200C/gas 7. (if you are cooking chicken add this in when you take the chook out to rest)
• First steam your cauliflower till tender but still firm (up to 5 mins)
• Take the steamer off the water and set aside to cool whilst you make the sauce
• In a saucepan  heat the milk, flour and butter,  whisking fast as the butter melts and the mixture comes to the boil until the sauce thickens nicely.
• Take off the heat then stir in 3/4 of the cheese
• In an ovenproof dish lay out your cauliflower, then pour over the cheese sauce, scattering the remaining cheese and some parmesan over like below…

• Pop into the oven and bake till golden and slightly browned on top (should be about 20 minutes)

Cauliflower cheese is a creamy, cheesy, gorgeous addition to any roast, and works particularly well with Chicken.  In fact I often have these instead of potatoes and, whilst no-one could describe these as healthy, they do have much less carbohydrate than potatoes.