Over Christmas my Cheesy Leeks were such a big hit that I have decided to share my recipe for Gluten Free Cauliflower Cheese with you.
For ages cauliflower was one of those veggies that I tended to avoid. I don’t have a good reason why, I just didn’t really notice it when I was out shopping. However, all that’s changed recently and I’m making up for lost time as both myself and our youngest have re-discovered that we absolutely love it. If you’ve not had cauliflower recently then I encourage you to give it a go. I love it served as a vegetable or as ‘rice’, but I especially love it served covered in my really cheesy sauce and baked in the oven until golden brown and bubbling. Cooked this way, cauliflower makes a great meat free main. I like it served with a green leafy salad. You can also serve some crusty bread alongside if you wish. My Irish Soda Bread goes particularly well.
According to my 5-a-day pull out poster (scroll down in the article) we need to eat 8 florets of broccoli to get one of our 5-a-day but I’m guessing that these are tiny florets seeing as 8 Brussels sprouts or 8 spring onions is also one of our 5-a-day, so this could easily give you 2-3 portions of veg if you serve it as a main.
Best of all, this is really easy to make. The only watch out is when it comes to thickening the cheese sauce. As long as you add the milk/cornflour mixture to the sauce before it comes to the boil, then stir it continuously, you will have no problems. However, if your sauce does develop a few lumps, a quick beat with a balloon whisk will soon sort it out.
I love adding mustard to my cheese sauce as I think it wakes it up a bit. Here I’ve suggested that you add 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, but I suggest you taste the sauce, adding more if you wish. Last time I was in France I took the opportunity to buy three massive jars of Amora mustard (and a large quantity of Breton Cider but that’s another story!). I love Amora mustard. It’s less pungent than the Dijon mustard that we get in the U.K. and I add 1 tablespoon of it to my cheese sauce. If you want to buy some, you can get it here (affiliate link*). Alternatively, add any mustard bought in Britain slowly. I’ve spoilt cheese sauces in the past by adding too much!
If you want to serve this Cauliflower Cheese as a side, I think it is gorgeous alongside a regular roast chicken with a pile of roasties and maybe some carrots. Or, if you want something a little more special, it would go brilliantly with my Beef, Chestnut and Red Wine Casserole. The perfect winter warmer!
*Affliliate link: I will receive a small percentage of the sale if you purchase this product through the Amazon link above. The price of the product is the same as if you went through the Amazon website directly.
Gluten Free Cauliflower Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower
- 400 ml (1¾ cups) milk (divided)
- 200 g (1½ cups) mature cheddar (grated)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- A good few gratings of black pepper
- 4 tablespoons (45g) cornflour
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (390F).
- Cut the cauliflower into medium sized florets, place in a large pan and add a few cm (1inch) boiling water and ½ teaspoon salt. Put the lid on the pan, return the water to the boil and steam the cauliflower for 5 minutes until beginning to soften.
- Drain, and leave uncovered to allow some of the steam to evaporate.
- Place 350ml (1½ C) of the milk and the cheddar, mustard, salt and pepper into a medium sized pan. Place over a medium heat and allow to warm.
- Stir the corn flour and the remaining milk together and stir into the warming cheese sauce. Continue to heat, stirring constantly (use a whisk if you wish) until the sauce thickens. Continue to stir, cooking for a further two minutes.
- Place the drained cauliflower into an oven proof dish. Pour over the cheese sauce and place in the pre-heated oven for around 15 minutes until bubbling and golden.
Nutrition
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Could you use this sauce ( maybe with only 3 tbsp cornflour instead of 4 so its not too thick) to make gf macaroni cheese sauce instead? Awaiting your reply 🙂
Very informative
Superb! The first time ever done the bake at home and taste is wonderful, light, not greasy and goes very well with baby salad leaves and french style white boule bread (if you can eat it)
This looks amazing! Any idea if it would work out the same if lactose free milk was used and the recipe doubled? Thanks
I often use lactose free milk and it works just great. And yes, feel free to double the recipe, just bake the leeks in a nice wide dish so you get lots of lovely golden topping!
Mmm, I could possibly live on cauliflower cheese if that was all that was let to eat. This looks fabulous. I’m going to have to try and squeeze in caulflower cheese into this week’s meal planner now. Ha!
Thanks Lou. That sounds good to me!
This looks amazing! Cauli cheese is one of my favourite things 🙂
Thanks Cat. Mine too!