Can you feel spring coming? Last chance to celebrate wintery dishes like whole roasted cauliflower with white cheddar sauce.
I love how cauliflower is having its big moment. I’ve got a full feed of inspiration from this once-sidelined veg–from cauliflower rice and purée to “steaks” and buffalo-style.
The excitement for this winter white vegetable is understandable. I remember my own cauliflower revelation during a lunch at Lupa in New York with a prominent food editor.
Alas, all that endures 15 years later is the piquant memory of the pasta dish: spicy caramelized cauliflower ragu with whole wheat linguini and buttery bread crumbs. {And since I just spent way too long hunting down that recipe to no avail, I’ll have to create a version here. Cauliflower devotees: stay tuned!}
With spring around the corner, it seems like a last opportunity to celebrate our new flame, cauliflower.
And while it’s terrific as florets–especially when roasted in a blasting oven until nearly scorched {like this}–or cut into slabs and seared {like this}, I’m enamored with whole roasted cauliflower the most.
Cooking Cauliflower Whole
Way before her time, my mother served us a whole head of cauliflower smothered in cheese cause for many family Sunday suppers. She knew how to turn a bland vegetable I thought looked like a brain into a side dish that made me want seconds as a kid.
This is exactly what I wanted to make for my kids. But how to cook a whole head of cauliflower?
I knew the prep involved trimming away the leaves and cutting out the core while leaving the smaller stems in tact. {Something now called “vegetable butchery”–how about that?} Then what?
Originally, steaming struck me as the go-to technique. But it’s hard to control doneness with a whole head so that the core is cooked but the florets aren’t overcooked. {Sound familiar? This is the issue when cooking anything–meat, poultry, fish–whole.}
You want it to be tender but not mushy. A slight al dente texture is good.
Baking is a better option, but it takes a long time for the core to become tender. So, I combined methods by baking the whole head but wrapping it in foil for the first stage of cooking so it steamed in its own moisture at the same time.
It took under an hour, a leisurely amount of time to make a cheese sauce flavored with white cheddar {a fave}.
Once a knife slipped all the way to the core of the cauliflower easily, I poured over the cream sauce and then upped the heat to turn the cheese golden brown. The result?
A cheese-cloaked whole roasted cauliflower that my whole family loved. Thanks for the inspiration, Mom!
Whole Roasted Cauliflower with White Cheddar Sauce
This recipe has three steps: baking a head of cauliflower until just tender, making the white cheddar sauce and final roasting to brown it all beautifully. You can cook the cauliflower and make the cheese sauce 2 days in advance and then reheat them together in a hot oven. Serve as a vegetarian main dish or a side dish for roast chicken, salmon or beef.
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, divided
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 3/ cups milk
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
- pinch nutmeg
- 3/4 cup white cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Use a paring knife to trim the leaves from the cauliflower. Cut around the main core to remove it while keeping the cauliflower in tact. Wash the cauliflower and shake it dry.
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Place the cauliflower in a shallow baking dish. Rub it all over lightly with oil and season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cover with foil, pinching the foil around the edges of the baking dish to seal it tightly. Bake for 45 minutes.
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Meanwhile, make the white cheddar sauce. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. When it foams, add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more, until fragrant.
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Whisk in the milk and bring to a simmer. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, dry mustard and nutmeg. Whisk until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes.
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Turn off the heat but leave the pan on the burner. Add the cheeses and stir until melted. Taste for seasoning.
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Check the cauliflower, being careful about the steam when removing the foil, and test it with a table knife. If the core is still tough, leave the cauliflower in the oven uncovered for 10-15 more minutes until the knife slides through to the center easily.
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Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Pour the white cheddar sauce over the cauliflower and bake uncovered until nicely browned, 20-25 minutes more. To serve, use a serving spoon to scoop portions, making sure to sweep through the additional cream sauce in the baking dish.
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