Cauliflower mash is added to the classic macaroni and cheese and you won’t believe how good this is.
Macaroni and cheese is almost everyone’s favorite. From young to old. Starchy and cheesy, I’m sold! Last week I made some macaroni and cheese with sweet potatoes for my daughter and she loved it. She doesn’t care much for sweet potatoes on its own, so I’ve been sneaking it into her meals and snacks. I don’t like sneaking in vegetables because I want her to see the actual vegetables and learn to enjoy them. Of course at the same time, I can’t expect her to like ALL the vegetables too.
Cauliflower macaroni and cheese is another great recipe for adults and also the young one if you’re trying to sneak in the vegetable. I especially like the breadcrumbs with bacon bits and fresh rosemary as toppings on the cauliflower macaroni and cheese. Meatless yet fulfilling and comforting dish all over.
Recipe is adapated from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s America
Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 slices of pancetta
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 1 lb dried macaroni about 450 g
- 9 0 z mature Cheddar cheese 250 g
- 4 thick slices of country bread
- A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 9 oz creme fraiche 250 g, or substitute with regular sour cream, avoid low or non-fat
- Parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 F. Put the coarse grater attachment into the food processor
- Lay the pancetta in a roasting tray/casserole dish (large enough to bake the pasta in) and put on the top shelf of the oven. Get rid of any outer leaves from the cauliflower, then trim off the tough base of the stalk and quarter the head. Put in a large saucepan, core down, with the pasta, on a high heat. Cover with a boiling water, filling and reboiling the kettle/pot if necessary. Season with a good pinch of salt, drizzle over a little olive oil, then stir and cook according to packet instructions, with the lid askew
- Grate the Cheddar in the food processor and tip into a bowl. Fit the standard blade attachment, then get your pancetta out of the oven and blitz in the processor with the bread, rosemary leaves and a good drizzle of olive oil until you have a coarse breadcrumb consistency
- Put a colander over a large bowl to catch the pasta water, then drain the pasta and cauliflower. Tip into the roasting tray you cooked your pancetta in, and put over a low heat. Add about 2 cups of the reserved pasta water from the bowl. Crush in 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic and mix in the creme fraiche and grated Cheddar, gently breaking up the cauliflower with tongs or a potato masher. Have a taste and correct the seasoning. It should be nice and loose; if not, add another splash of the pasta water
- Spread out evenly and scatter over the breadcrumbs you made earlier. Put on the top shelf on the oven for about 8 minutes, or until golden and bubbling
- When ready to serve, shave over some Parmesan cheese
