Post Furlough/Student Food: Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Bake

 Pasta is one of the staples to be found in virtually every storecupboard up and down the country.  Even those who cannot eat gluten have their own verison (at a pretty price too).  It is also (in it's dry form) one of the things that my teenage son (who is autistic) likes to nick straight out of the packet for a snack.  This recipe is one which came into being when I did not have enough pasta for pasta in a cheese sauce (on it's own) and only had a small cauliflower so that was not going to do it on its own either.  The resultant recipe is cheap, can be prepared in advance and reheated in the oven, and can easily be varied/tweaked/adapted to include a few extras to make life seem less stringent. Winner winner no chicken for dinner.

Cauliflower Pasta Bake (Serves 4)

1 small cauliflower

150g (pasta shape except spaghetti)

25 g butter

25 g flour

250ml milk

120 g cheddar cheese, grated

Breadrumbs and extra grated cheese for topping.

Chop the cauliflower into florets, stalks, leaves and all.  Steam until tender.

Boil the pasta in salted water until cooked.

Make the cheese sauce.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then stir in the flour.  Keep stirring to prevent lumps forming and allow the flour to cook for 2-3 minutes (this gets rid of the raw flour flavour).  Switch to a balloon whisk and add the milk in a thin stream whilst stirring all the time.  Bring to the boil and the white sauce should thicken.  Add the grated cheese and stir until melted.

Combine all the ingredients and pour into a casserole dish.  Chill until needed. Top with breadcrumbs and extra grated cheese.  and cook in a medium oven until the top is brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Extras - add as many or as few as you like!

Add a tsp of mustard to the cheese sauce - not one I use personally as I hate mustard but...

Add  grated nutmeg to the sauce

Replace all or part of the cauliflower with broccoli

Add bacon to the sauce for extra flavour

Use blue cheese for the sauce, just half and half cheddar and stilton is lush and great for using up Christmas stilton

Use leftover chicken/pork/turkey/ham stirred in for extra protein

Add sliced mushrooms for extra protein.