Cauliflower cheese – Serranía Style

British cuisine has a terrible reputation amongst the Spanish. Paul Whitelock thinks this is unfair. There are a number of typically British dishes which are delicious and easy to prepare. Cauliflower cheese is a good example. Whether as a starter, snack or main course, this nutritious and flavoursome “concoction” is a winner. He is confident our Spanish friends would like it a lot. Here is the version he prepared the other evening.

 Ingredients (serves 4)

1 large cauliflower (leaves cut off), broken into pieces

500ml almond milk

4 tbsp flour

50g butter

100g grated cheese. I used manchego, but any strongly flavoured cheese would work too

2-3 tbsp flax seeds (semillas de lino)

Method

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then add the cauliflower pieces, and cook for 5 mins – lift out a piece to test, it should be cooked.

In the meantime pre-heat oven to 220C/gas mark 7.

Drain the cauliflower, then tip into an ovenproof dish.

Put the saucepan back on the heat and add the almond milk, flour and butter.

Keep whisking fast as the butter melts and the mixture comes to the boil – the flour will disappear and the sauce will begin to thicken. Whisk for 2 mins while the sauce bubbles and becomes nice and thick.

Turn off the heat, stir in most of the grated cheese and pour the mixture over the cauliflower. Scatter over the remaining cheese and the flax seeds.

Put in the oven and bake for 20 mins until the mixture bubbles.

Serve.

I ate my cauliflower cheese as an accompaniment to Bratwurst and a bread roll. I selected a German wheat beer to drink with it. Lecker!