Cauliflower Cheese Casserole
Cauliflower Cheese Casserole is a creamy and cheesy cauliflower casserole that makes a welcome side dish when feeding a crowd, a relatively simple recipe that can be prepared the day before.
Cauliflower cheese casserole is a relatively easy side dish to make with most of the ingredients already available in your pantry.
Cauliflower is a very versatile vegetable that comes from the mustard family, an annual plant that reproduces by seed. There are hundreds of varieties used around the world. They come in four different colours. White, being the most common, orange that contains an orange pigment which originated from a natural mutant found in Canada, green sometimes referred to a Broccoflower and purple containing a water-soluble pigment found in many other plants and plant based products.
Cauliflower heads can be roasted, grilled, boiled, fried, steamed, pickled or eaten raw. In this receipt we will be boiling the cauliflower and then utilizing the cauliflower water when making the cheese sauce and then finishing the dish by baking in the oven.
Cauliflower Cheese Casserole Ingredients
Cauliflower cheese casserole is relatively easy dish to make with most of the ingredients already in your pantry.
I really enjoy a strong cheese flavour so tend to go with a sharp cheddar cheese and the full 3 cups, sometimes more.
- 1 Cauliflower Medium
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup Flour
- 1 cup Cooking Liquid Reserved
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 – 3 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese Shredded
- 1 tsp Dry Mustard
- Salt & pepper to taste
How to Make Cauliflower Cheese Casserole
Cut up cauliflower into florets and cook in boiling water approximately 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
Melt butter in a pan over medium heat and whisk in flour to make a paste.
Add cooking liquid, milk, dry mustard, salt & pepper. Stir over medium/low heat until mixed.
Remove from the heat and stir in cheese until melted.
Pour sauce over cauliflower in a casserole dish and bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 30 – 40 minutes.
Preparing a Day Ahead
When entertaining a crowd, this dish can be prepared ahead the day before to relieve some of the pressure the day of the dinner. Once you have poured the sauce over the cauliflower in the casserole dish, cover and refrigerate until several hours prior to cooking to bring the dish to room temperature and cook as instructed.
Cauliflower Cheese Casserole
Equipment
- 1 Stock Pot Medium
- 1 Casserole Dish 2 Litre
Ingredients
- 1 Cauliflower, Medium
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup Flour
- 1 cup Cooking Liquid, Reserved
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 – 3 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
- 1 tsp Dry Mustard
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut up cauliflower into florets and cook in boiling water approximately 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
- Melt butter in a pan over medium heat and whisk in flour to make a paste.
- Add cooking liquid, milk, dry mustard, salt & pepper. Stir over medium/low heat until mixed.
- Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted,
- Pour sauce over cauliflower in a casserole dish and bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 30 – 40 minutes.
Notes
- Prepare a day in advance and refridgerate until needed
