With both Lidl and SuperU running specials on Cauliflowers at the moment I thought why not share one of our firm favourite winter dishes. To start with you’re going to need about 6 ingredients. This recipe is rather forgiving so you can add in more or less as you like.
Cauliflower (500-600g)
Bacon Bits (75g)
Pasta (300g)
Milk + Flour (500ml +60g flour)
Cheese (100g)
I’m including frozen and fresh cauliflower in my picture below you won’t always have specials and they are kinda seasonal. You’re looking at a total time of around 40 minutes getting this meal on the table.
To start with … get everything cooking away. This is not a complicated recipe. Throw your pasta on (read your instructions … I like penne for this dish) salt the water.
Then get your cauliflower on (I’ve cut up about 2/3rds of the florets). As this is Fresh I’m cooking it for 5 or 6 minutes in boiling water) If it’s frozen you’ll want to up the time to 10 – 15 … it’ll depend on the stalk sizes. Frozen stalks aren’t the nicest things to eat (according to my kids)
Fry your bacon!
Heat up your milk and when it’s starting to warm up start adding in some flour while whisking away. You’ll want to continue whisking for a few minutes.
Before you know it, your bechamel will be thickening up nicely. You can, of course, add in some butter should you want to .. mix in some cheese as well so it melts in nicely. There are loads of recipes available online for this … I’m keeping mine simple. Mix all your ingredients and put them into an oven-ready dish. Top generously with cheese (of your choice … many swear by cheddar but I’m not a huge fan … this is emmental below) I also like to add on a nice herby breadcrumb mix but that’s entirely optional.
Preheat your oven to 180 (or not) and give it 15 to 20 minutes until your cheese starts to crisp up nicely. You could just grill it for 5 minutes as well but I like to give it time to bake/dry out slightly
Enjoy!
For those on a budget, the bacon is working out at 91cents … pasta at about 30 cents .. milk at 50 cents … cauliflower about 70 cents … flour 10 cents. Then your cheese at another euro? That’s working out at just over €3.50 … this served 4 people with a leftover portion for my lunch today. So that’s 70 cents a portion for a very warm and hearty meal.
