Bacon and Cheese Cauliflower Bake, What’s not to Love?

We just happen to love cauliflower. We also think there’s not much that can’t be improved upon by using Bacon and Cheese! So we came up with this side dish that works with just about any meat but to be honest, Elfie eats it as a meal with a salad.  Ok, she doesn’t always eat the salad!

There are a few steps to this dish but it is easy enough for a novice cook to create!

We use our “Crummy Topping” in this dish so just click the link to get to it. It’s a good idea to make the topping as a separate recipe first. Set it aside while you do the rest.

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cauliflower cut into florets
• 4 strips thick sliced bacon (or eight regular) cut into Lardon (see image below)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 Chicken stock cube or packet
• 1 garlic clove minced or grated
• ½ a fresh grated nutmeg (or ½ tsp ready grated)
• Salt and  pepper to taste ( see Cooks a Tip below)
• 2 cups of grated cheese
• 1 cup of  “Crummy Topping”

Cook’s Tip: Use sharp cheeses to give interest to the sauce. We use Feta, Parmesan and aged White Cheddar. You can use whatever you like or have on hand.  No rules here!

Cut the Cauliflower into florets and steam until just tender.

Fry the Lardon until crisp, drain off fat.

Grate the various cheeses

In a large saucepan melt the butter together with the flour. Stir it into a paste and add the milk all at once.   Whisk the sauce until its nice and thick over medium high heat.

Add the stock cube or packet, nutmeg, garlic, bacon, salt, pepper and all the cheese.

Place the cauliflower into the sauce and stir it well to incorporate. Spread the mixture into a buttered casserole dish large enough to hold everything.  Spread the Crummy Topping over the casserole and bake at 350F degrees until you can see the cheese sauce bubbling and the Crummy Topping is golden brown.

We hope you’ll give this recipe a try for your next family gathering. We believe it will be as big a hit at your table as it has been at ours!