For me, a Sunday roast just isn’t a Sunday roast without a cauliflower cheese. Usually I segment the cauli, but yesterday decided to leave it whole.
I took the tough outer leaves off, leaving the more tender smaller ones in tact, and steamed the whole head for around 12 minutes.
While it was steaming, I made the cheese sauce by melting a generous knob of butter in a saucepan and whisking in a couple of dessert spoons of pain flour to form a roux. Season with pepper and a small pinch of salt (the cheese is salty, so don’t go overboard). Then I whisked in milk, stiring continuously until I had a smooth and thick sauce. At this point I threw in a large handful of strong cheddar.
I set the sauce aside and removed the cauli from the steamer, letting it dry off a little. While it was drying, I made a simple crumb by blitzing a piece of wholemeal bread up with salt and pepper. If you have any parsley and pine nuts to hand you could throw them in too. Mix with a bit more cheddar and some parmesan.
Put the head of cauli in a large oven proof dish and pour the sauce over it. Sprinkle the crumb over the top and bake for about 35-40 mins in a 170oC oven.
Slice to serve and spoon over some of the delicious sauce.