cauliflower macaroni cheese

Not quite a 30 minute meal. It’s simpler than that. It’s yanked from Jamie’s 30 minute cauliflower macaroni, chicory salad with insane dressing, and lovely stewed fruit. But I only fancied the cauliflower macaroni bit.

I loused up the recipe a bit – I somehow ended up blitzing the cheese with the lovely breadcrumbs, which meant the topping was cheesy but the sauce too bland. Stupid spud. I still feel like the whole thing could use a little more seasoning though.

Cauliflower macaroni:

8 rasher of pancetta

1 head of cauliflower, quartered

300g macaroni

Large sprig of rosemary, leaves picked

200g cheddar

2 thick slices of bread

2 cloves of garlic

150g creme fraiche

1. Get the oven on 220°C. Lay the pancetta in a baking tray ready to take the finished dish and pop in the oven while you carry on.
2. Put the cauliflower and the macaroni in a large pot and fill with boiling salted water, and keep on the simmer.
3. Get the food processor out with the chopping blade. Get the pancetta out of the oven and whizz this up with the bread, rosemary and a dash of olive oil.
4. Drain off the cauliflower & pasta and reserve some of the water. Tip the veg/mac into the roasting tray you used for the pancetta and put on a low heat. Pour in a little water, crush in the garlic and mix in the creme fraiche and cheddar. Mix everything right up, adding more water and seasoning as necessary to get a smooth, silky sauce. Spread out evenly, top with the breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until bubbling.

roasted cauliflower rogan josh

I’ve been on a mad rush of curries lately. With how much I’ve enjoyed Leon’s crispy roast cauliflower in the past few months, it occurred to me that this method of cooking is identical to the tikka style of barbecuing the meat separate to the sauce. With the addition of lentils to make it a fuller meal and Patak’s taking care of the spices, this was a glorious curry.

Roasted cauliflower rogan josh:

1 head of cauliflower, hacked to florets

2 carrots, chopped into chunks

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

Sprinkle of black onion seeds

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon turmeric

For the sauce:

2 onions, sliced

2 tablespoons Patak’s rogan josh curry paste

1 tin tomatoes

1 tin lentils

1. Preheat the oven as high as it will go. Scatter the veg in a large baking tray. Mix the spices with the oil and drizzle over the cauliflower and carrots. Sprinkle with salt and toss liberally to coat everything. Roast for 45 minutes or until the cauliflower starts to blacken.
2. When the veg has had about 30 minutes in the oven, prepare the sauce. In a large casserole sweat the onions in a little oil for about 10 minutes until starting to turn golden. Add the spice paste and stir for a minute to get it going.
3. Add the tomatoes, then chuck in the lentils (including the water they come in). Bring up to a boil and simmer quite vigourously for about five minutes. The veg should be ready at this point so bring out of the oven and throw the lot into the casserole. Stir and check for seasoning (salt? Lemon juice?), then serve with naan.

quick cauliflower dhal

This dinner was made super-fast by the addition of two dead handy ingredients: Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Onion Curry Base and Patak’s Balti paste. This wiped so much time off the cooking, all I was waiting for was the cauliflower to get tender. The Waitrose onion curry base is particularly great; sweet, spicy and tender onions, garlic, ginger and chilli in a jar sweated down. Look out for them.

Quick cauliflower dhal:

Half a jar of Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Onion Curry Base

Half a jar of Patak’s Balti paste

1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets

1 litre vegetable stock

1 tin green lentils, drained

1 tablespoon double cream

1. Heat a little oil in a deep pan and add the onions. Cook for a minute and stir in the curry paste. Add the cauliflower and cook for another minute stirring to coat the cauli in the pastes.
2. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. After five minutes add the lentils and continue cooking until tender. Just before serving stir through some cream.

gobi tarka dall

I can’t get enough cauliflower, and am always quick to toss out a few recipes for those that think it dull and dreary. I was dead pleased to see an article in the latest Delicious magazine devoted to the joys of the cauli. It’s not just for cauliflower cheese, y’know.

Gobi tarka dall (based on a recipe by Debbie Major):

150g puy lentils

300ml vegetable stock

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 large cauliflower, broken into florets

1 medium onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, grated

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon Madras curry powder

200ml coconut milk

1 tin of tomatoes

1 tablespoon Greek yoghurt

Bunch of fresh coriander leaves

For the tarka:

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

3 cloves

1. Rinse the lentils thoroughly then simmer them in the stock for 20 minutes until tender. Set aside.
2. Heat a little oil in a pan, and drop in the cumin seeds. After 30 seconds or so they will spit and jump about so throw in the cauliflower and get some dark brown scorches on them. Remove to one side.
3. In the same pan fry the onion until soft (about 10 minutes), then add the garlic. After a couple of minutes stirring add the cumin, turmeric and curry powder. Cook for a further minute, then add the coconut milk, tomatoes and cauliflower. Simmer for fifteen minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.
4. Stir the lentils into the curry and season well with salt. Leave to simmer so everything is piping hot, then turn off the heat stirring in the yoghurt with some vigour (this will avoid separation). Throw some coriander over the top.
5. For the tarka, get the oil sizzly hot and add the spices. After a minute’s crackling turn the heat off and toss the lot over the curry. Serve with soft and puffy naan bread.

crispy roast cauliflower

Another delight tweaked from Leon Fast Food. A quick and easy side dish. I suspected roasting cauliflower would render it quite dry, but surprisingly it’s still nice and juicy in the middle. I ran this one past one of the authors, who offered the following advice. I am going to make it again this weekend!

Crispy roast cauliflower:

1 head of cauliflower, slashed into florets

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Scatter the ingredients in a large roasting tray and toss with plenty of oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 – 40 minutes, until you get “crispy brown bits at the edge.”