Italian cauliflower cheese with mushrooms
Who doesn’t love cauliflower cheese with a Sunday roast? It was a completely novel dish to me when I first came to England, but I’ve loved it since. This is my Italian version, with the addition of sauteed mushrooms, Parmesan and mozzarella.
TIP Don’t boil the cauliflower first. There’s no need and can make the final result quite watery – let the oven do its job!
This recipe is an extract from Gennaro’s Verdure: Big and bold recipes to pack your plate with veg by Gennaro Contaldo (Pavilion Books). Image credit David Loftus.
Next, why not try more cheese recipes from the House & Garden recipe archive?
Ingredients
Serves 4
For the béchamel
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6.
Step 2
Break up the cauliflower head into florets and set aside.
Step 3
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and sweat the garlic, then add the mushrooms, a little salt and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.
Step 4
Make the béchamel. In a saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat, then remove and whisk in the flour to make a smooth paste. Gradually add the milk, then return to the heat, whisking, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat, season and stir in 40g (1.oz) of the cheese.
Step 5
Mix the mushrooms, cauliflower, three-quarters of the béchamel and the mozzarella. Place in an ovenproof dish. Pour over the remaining béchamel; sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes.
Step 6
Increase the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas mark 7, remove the foil and bake for 15 minutes, until golden.
Step 7
Leave to rest for 5 minutes and serve.
