Baked Cauliflower in White Sauce, a Family Favorite.

I have been enjoying this dish at family dinners ever since I can remember. I have no idea where the recipe originated, but my father used to cook it regularly and was a fantastic dish.

I learnt the recipe from him and now make this quite often at home as my second born, Ved loves this dish so much we have to make extra portions for him for the next days breakfast & lunch as well. My wife still claims that my Dad’s white sauce is tastier.

Ingridents:

·      1 small to medium cauliflower

·      1L milk

·      120g butter

·      4 tablespoons plain flour

·      Good handful of grated cheese of your choice

·      Pepper & salt

·      Bread crumbs

Method:

Cut your cauliflower into ‘trees’, I kept mine at the larger size for this dish. You will need to steam your cauliflower pieces until they are tender, because they won’t get cooked for long enough in the oven. I just did mine in the microwave for about 6 minutes.

For the white sauce, you will need to warm up your milk before you can use it in the sauce. I also do this in the microwave. And you can grate the cheese while waiting for the milk

Pre-heat your oven to about 180-200 degrees Celcius.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. Wait until it’s nice & bubbly, then sprinkle the flour over the butter. You might want to take it off the heat at this point, until you can get it all mixed together and scraped off the bottom of the pan. Return it to the heat and cook for a full minute, being careful not to let any area of the bottom of the pot alone for too long, as it will burn

At this point you can start adding your warm milk a little at a time. Add a bit, then stir until it’s fully combined. Then you can add some more. 

Warm milk added a little at a time ensures you don’t get any lumps in the sauce.

Keep adding milk until you reach your preferred thickness, the thicker the sauce the richer your dish will be. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Once your sauce is ready, get your oven dish and spread out a little sauce in the bottom of it. Then put in your cauliflower pieces

Pour the sauce over the cauliflower so they are smothered in sauce, and sprinkle over the grated cheese and bread crumbs.

Stick in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden-brown.

Serve with Garlic bread.