Luxury Cauliflower Cheese

This transforms cauliflower cheese into the perfect Winter lunch. It has a slight nod to being non-vegetarian which will keep him this side of happy. It’s slightly tricky sauce is not difficult but needs care.

1 litre milk

A bay leaf

2 onions, one small, one medium

3 cloves

50g butter

50g plain flour

4 tbsp double cream

100g strong cheddar

4 tbsp Parmesan

1 large cauliflower

220g dry cure streaky bacon

We’re starting with the sauce. Some Handel on the CD player would be both uplifting and calming and will help you keep a steady hand. Let the boy have a pre lunch pint with his mates. He’ll have the newspapers with him and will doubtless leave them behind in the pub.

Pour the milk in a saucepan and add the bay leaf. Heat it up. Peel the small onion and stud it with the cloves, then sink it into the pan. As soon as the milk rises, take it off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. It will carry on infusing.

Heat the oven to 220/Gas 7. Melt the butter in another saucepan and tip the flour in, to make a roux. Stir non-stop until it colours and then pour in the milk (leaving behind the onion and bayleaf). Whisk rapidly until you’re as sure as you can be that it has no lumps. This is the hardest bit over unless he phones you to say he’s still at the pub and will be late. Season with salt and pepper.

Turn the heat right down and simmer very gently for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile break the cauliflower into florets – I like to add a few stalks of the tender pale green inner leaves as well. Chop the streaky bacon into thin slices and finely slice the medium onion.

Bring a big pan of lightly salty water to the boil.  Add the cauliflower  for no more than 4 minutes. You want it still firm. Drain.

The sauce should have had around 15 mins by now so add the Cheddar cheese and the cream, and add more salt and pepper if it needs it.

Tip the cauliflower into a baking dish, pour over the sauce and sprinkle the parmesan on top. Bake for 20 minutes, until a golden crust appears.

While it’s cooking, brown the onions in a little oil. When they just start to caramelise, add the bacon. Dry cure means it won’t leach water into the pan so it should crisp up nicely. You’re looking for crispy crunchy bacon with sweet caramelised dry onion with plenty of dark brown burnt bits.

Sprinkle liberally over the cauliflower cheese and serve. He won’t be late. Perhaps slightly drunk, starving and in that “I want you to take advantage of me” state and yes he will have left the papers behind in the pub.