The best cauliflower & broccoli cheese

Name: The best cauliflower & broccoli cheese
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 8 as a side
Ingredients: 2 cloves of garlic; 50 g unsalted butter; 50 g plain flour; 600 ml semi-skimmed milk; 500 g fresh or frozen broccoli; 75 g mature cheddar cheese; 1 kg fresh or frozen cauliflower; 2 slices of ciabatta or stale bread; 2 sprigs of fresh thyme; 25 g flaked almonds; olive oil

With a crunchy almond breadcrumb topping

“Cauliflower cheese has always been a big favourite in the Oliver household. It’s such a staple I never thought I could do it better, but this version really has the edge. ”

Serves 8 as a side

Cooks In1H 35M

DifficultySuper easy

Vegetables, Christmas, Dinner Party, Father's day

Nutrition per serving

Calories

241

12%
Fat

14.4g

21%
Saturates

6.6g

33%
Protein

13.6g

27%
Carbs

15.2g

6%
Sugars

7.4g

8%
Salt

0.6g

10%
Fibre

4.2g

-

Of an adult's reference intake

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver

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Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic
50 g unsalted butter
50 g plain flour
600 ml semi-skimmed milk
500 g fresh or frozen broccoli
75 g mature cheddar cheese
1 kg fresh or frozen cauliflower
2 slices of ciabatta or stale bread
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
25 g flaked almonds
olive oil

Tap For Method

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver

Buy Now

Watch Here

Tap For Ingredients

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Peel and finely slice the garlic and put it into a medium pan on a medium heat with the butter.
When the butter has melted, stir in the flour for a minute to make a paste, then gradually add the milk, whisking as you go, until lovely and smooth.
Add the broccoli (cut up first, if using fresh) and simmer for around 20 minutes, or until the broccoli is cooked through and starts to break down, then mash or blitz with a stick blender (adding an extra splash of milk to loosen, if using fresh broccoli). Grate in half the Cheddar and season to perfection.
Arrange the cauliflower in an appropriately sized baking dish (cut into florets first, if using fresh), pour over the broccoli white sauce and grate over the remaining Cheddar.
Blitz the bread into breadcrumbs in a food processor, then pulse in the thyme leaves and almonds. Toss with a lug of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, then scatter evenly over the cauliflower cheese.
Bake for 1 hour, or until golden and cooked through, then enjoy!

Tips

It’s really good fun to play around with different cheeses in this dish and how they taste and melt. It’s also nice to try different veg instead of cauliflower – for instance, 2–3cm chunks of celeriac, squash, potatoes or leeks would all work a treat. Have a play and see what your favourites are – some veg might take longer to cook than others, so test with a knife to check they’re cooked through before serving.